MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY AND POLICE LIAISON GROUP

TIER 2 BOROUGHBRIDGE LOCAL AREA POLICING GROUP

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

HELD AT BOROUGHBRIDGE COUNCIL OFFICES

ON MONDAY 5TH MARCH 2007

 

 

1.      Welcome: The Chair (Martin Leather) welcomed all those present.

Martin Leather – Chairman

Superintendent Sue Cross – Crime Commander Western Area

Sgt. Bill Hickson – Ripon Neighbourhood Policing Team

PC Neil Waite – Ripon Neighbourhood Policing Team

Chris Turner – Green Hammerton Parish Council

H Gregory – Little Ouseburn Parish Council

Peter Myatt – Skelton-on-Ure Parish Council

Ron Sneddon – Neighbourhood Watch

Graeme Gould – Kirk Hammerton Parish Council

David Cornmell – Rainton Parish Council

James M Wilkinson – Boroughbridge Town Council

Mike Goslin – Boroughbridge Chamber of Trade

Peter Gibbs – Moor Monkton Parish Council

Don Paton – Harrogate & District Neighbourhood Watch

Mike Fisher – Langthorpe Parish Council

Mick Lofthouse – Marton cum Grafton Parish Council

Richard Wilkinson – Kirby Hill & District Parish Council

Robert Windass – Boroughbridge Town Council

Bernard Porter

Jenny Humphreys – Secretary

 

 

2.      Apologies were received from Councillor Peter Philips, Susan Beattie – Dishforth

Parish Council, Gill Firth – Tockwith & Wilstrop Parish Council.

 

3.      Election of Chairman, Vice Chairman, Tier 1 Representative and Deputy.

 

It was proposed by J Wilkinson that Martin Leather continue as Chairman for the coming year. This was seconded by R Windass, and carried with all in favour.

It was proposed by D Paton that David Cornmell be elected as Vice Chairman. This was seconded by C Turner and carried with all in favour. It was decided that Martin Leather should continue as Tier 1 Representative, with David Cornmell as Deputy.

 

4.      Minutes of the meeting held 4th December 2006.

 

It was agreed that the minutes were an accurate record of the meeting.

 

5.      Matters Arising.

 

a) Anti social behaviour in Boroughbridge: Sgt. Bill Hickson said he had attended a meeting in January with the Mayor Cllr.Geoff Craggs, Councillor Golightly and a Youth Worker representative. They had looked into funding for diversionary activities for young people, and a mobile cinema for Boroughbridge had been proposed. The Town Council is working in conjunction with the County Council, and a licence has been applied for. He also said that the police do respond to and deal with trouble whenever possible, and Youth Action forms are sent out to parents when necessary. However, some incidents are relatively minor, such as riding cycles on pavements etc.

 

James Wilkinson said that Boroughbridge is getting a bad reputation, and that more police on the beat were needed. The Neighbourhood Policing Team is down from 8 to 4 members. Superintendent Sue Cross said that although resources in the Western Area are stretched, they are looking into deploying more officers from Ripon on a 24/7 basis. Concern was raised about rowdy behaviour and drunkenness in the town at night, particularly outside the Musketeers public house. Reference was made to an incident last Saturday night when an ambulance was called to the Pizza Place, following an assault. PC Neil Waite said that the new licensee of the Musketeers was trying to improve the situation, by banning troublemakers. It was also pointed out that in Ripon the pubs operate a ’banned from one, banned from all’ policy, which seems to be effective, and is something to think about doing here. Sgt Hickson said anti social behaviour is linked with late licensing and late night food establishments, and the licences of any which caused problems would be looked at when up for renewal.

 

It was remarked upon that there was no one representing Knaresborough police at the meeting. Supt. Cross said she could arrange for a representative from Knaresborough to attend the meetings if that is what we want, but she felt their resources would be better deployed out on the beat. Ripon police will liase with them in future to pass on any relevant information.

 

b)      Neighbourhood Policing Team – update on reversing split: Martin Leather said the policing split of Boroughbridge between Ripon and Knaresborough had not worked. Supt. Cross said she had a meeting coming up on Friday with Chief Superintendent Bernie Mitchell to discuss dispersal of staff to meet crime patterns in the area, and they would debate the split then. However, she did not think it would be reversed in the near future. Martin Leather said the idea of NPT’s was to facilitate communication with the public, but the split had made it worse. He could communicate with PC Waite in Boroughbridge, but there was no one in the south of the district to report to directly. It would be helpful for Parish Clerks to have a mobile number to refer to if they need help or advice when any incidents occurred. Sgt Hickson said he would invite someone from the police station at Knaresborough to the next meeting to discuss the problem.

 

6.      Speaker – Superintendent Sue Cross, Crime Commander Western Area.

 

Supt. Cross did not give a formal talk, as she spent a great deal of time answering questions from the floor, and engaging in the debates and matters that were raised. It was felt that her presence and contribution to the meeting had been very helpful.

 

7. Police Related Matters.

 

a) Crime figures: Sgt. Bill Hickson presented the Crime Figures for Boroughbridge CAP Group Area, 1/12/06 to 28/02/07.(See separate sheet.) He pointed out that the lowest detection rates are on burglaries and theft, especially those from farm buildings and outhouses etc. Theses are the most difficult to solve as there is usually very little to go on. People need to be encouraged to be more security conscious. It was suggested that the Boroughbridge web site could have a police notice board to publicise any current spate of thefts in the area, to make people more aware. It was also noted that the Ringmaster system is not always effective, as sometimes there is no one available to deal with enquiries. Supt. Cross will look into it.

 

b) Pub Watch – Boroughbridge and local villages: There are 11 pubs keen to join the ‘Pub Watch’ scheme. The local Spa shop was cited as being a gathering point for youths in the evenings, who purchase alcohol there, but it is not eligible to join the scheme. As the subject of alcohol related problems had already been dealt with under ‘Anti Social Behaviour’ (see above), it was felt there was no need for further discussion.

 

8.                  Report from Tier 1 Meeting, 8th January 2007.

 

·        Andy Chapman said that he personally felt that the current structure of the CAP groups in Harrogate did not help him fulfil his duty to be accountable to local communities. He did not feel they were as well attended as they could be and that they did not truly reflect the communities that he was responsible for. He welcomed any proposed changes to improve this.

·        C.I. Smith was encouraged by the continual trend of reduction in crime overall.

·        With regards to domestic burglary, C.I. Smith is putting together plans to reduce the number of domestic burglaries in the Harrogate District. North Yorkshire Police have seen a correlation between these crimes and the early release of some prisoners across the border.

·         The early difficulties that were being encountered by the Neighbourhood  Policing Teams have now been mostly overcome. The current structures and resources are under review, and communications with individual groups will be made before any changes take place. However, it is not envisaged that any major changes will be taking place, but rather the current structures altered slightly.

·        It was suggested that a representative from the Administration of Justice Department that are responsible for Case Building Teams (CBT’s) would be asked to present to the group a complete update and picture of the CBT’s at the April meeting.

·        Of great importance to the general public is obtaining feedback to any issues that they raise or any issues that may be of interest. Ensuring that a meeting is of interest to the public is the responsibility of the Chairman, through the use of specialist speakers etc.

 

9.   Don Paton – Neighbourhood Watch.

 

The mail shot planned for January was not done. The police data base has not been audited. No one was made responsible for it and it needs updating. Don Paton has resigned as Ringmaster co-ordinator.

There have been no new local set ups for the last nine months. We need to generate more interest locally. Other areas are very busy including Harrogate.

 

 

 

10.  Any Other Business.

 

·        David Cornmell was disappointed about the lack of support from the local police for the Rainton village 10k race. Traffic cones are usually supplied from Boroughbridge, but they now have to go to Harrogate for them. Lack of resources was blamed for the lack of support to local events.

·        Helen Astbury ,the former Secretary, will be invited to the next meeting so that a presentation can be made to thank her for all her hard work in the past.

 

11. Dates of the next meetings were agreed as 4th June 2007, 3rd September 2007, 10th December 2007, and 3rd March 2008(AGM). Superintendent Sue Cross is to attend the meeting on 4th June 2007.

 

Key Points:

 

·        There are no police available any more to attend charity events due to lack of resources.

·        A business in Green Hammerton tried to get help from the 0845 non emergency number, when three suspicious looking men whom they had been told to look out for in a Ringmaster message, entered their premises. There was no one available to give them any relevant information or advice. Supt. Sue Cross said she would look into this.