COMMUNITY POLICING

PCSOs have been branded a "mockery" after leaked documents revealed their lack of training makes them practically powerless to respond to major incidents. A police risk assessment document says support officers cannot be the first to respond to any incident, cannot attend an incident which involves confrontation on their own and must call for backup or withdraw if a situation involves confrontation.

They are also told they cannot issue fines, detain people or confiscate alcohol if any violence is threatened, cannot carry out searches at a crime scene and must not enter the water under any circumstances. Support officers can detain people for up to 30 minutes until a police officer arrives and can confiscate alcohol and issuing fixed penalty notices for public order and anti-social behaviour offences.

But according to the risk assessment, leaked from Lancashire Police, PCSOs cannot do any of those things if violence is threatened and should call for the assistance of a regular police officer if they think it is needed. also, they must not be deployed "as first response to any incident that requires a police officer unless they are accompanied by a police officer."

Acting Assistant Chief Constable for Lancashire Constabulary Wendy Walker said, "PCSO's are not police officers and to constantly compare them fails to take into account what their actual role is." So what exactly is their actual role? (Source: Daily Mail, Oct/07)

Police made several arrests during an operation to clamp down on vehicle crime. The six-day campaign was organised following a spate of thefts from cars in the Chaddesden, Pride Park and Wyvern areas. High visibility patrols were increased and police made 15 arrests, recovered two stolen cars, two stolen motorbikes and other property, seized 12 vehicles that were not roadworthy and issued 70 fixed penalty notices for road offences.

During the operation officers also captured a man who was absent without leave from the Grenadier Guards, charged one person with drugs offences and arrested two teenagers in connection with an attack on an elderly Chaddesden man. Sergeant Dave Tapp, who led the operation, said, "I was really pleased with the results. Our intention was to reduce the number of crimes in our neighbourhoods, deter would-be offenders and to try and prevent crime by actively patrolling areas and taking positive action."

During the police patrols, Sgt Tapp said there were no reported incidents and he believed that was down to the presence of officers in the area. In the Chaddesden area, which Sgt Tapp said had suffered from anti-social behaviour as well as vehicle crime, gangs of youths had been intimidating shopkeepers and customers. Police carried out stop and searches and referred nine people to the Derby Community Safety Partnership for anti-social behaviour order consideration. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Feb/07)

The Government is to spend £340million over the next three years setting up dedicated policing teams in every neighbourhood. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke went on the beat with police in south London to launch the programme. The cash will go towards paying for 24,000 community support officers in all English and Welsh neighbourhoods by 2007/08, a Home Office spokesman said. Local wardens and special constables will also play a role in the teams. However, it will be left to individual police forces to define how large or small each "neighbourhood" would be.

A Home Office booklet pointed out, "A neighbourhood to an inner city resident will be very different from what it means to someone living in a predominantly rural area. For the former, their neighbourhood could be a few streets or the estate where they live, for the person in the country it could be their village, a group of villages or their parish. We think that local communities, police forces, police authorities and partners should decide what neighbourhoods mean, rather than being told by the Government." (Source: Daily Mail)

Communities could hire their own police, under plans being drafted by Home Secretary David Blunkett. The plan would see householders banding together to raise £10,000 towards the cost of a "community support officer". The government would pay the other half of their wages, Labour are set to say in their general election manifesto. But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said the measure proved ministers did not have the right level of police in this country. However, a Home Office spokesman said the proposal would be a supplement to existing police cover, and was not being introduced because current policing was failing.

A spokesman said, "The rich can already pay for private security. We want to make it easier for local people in a particular street, community or estate to be able to raise a levy if they want to pay for a community support officer. This is not about people being dissatisfied. We would not want it to be there for people who thought their policing was poor. We would remedy that with the Chief Constable. It is just about, at the end of the day, those who want more attention then the police service is able to give them." But Mr Oaten said the plan will create a "two-tier" police service.

"This move will do nothing for those living on our run-down estates where crime, drug-taking and anti-social behaviour blights every hour of every day," he said. "Rich residents in affluent areas may well be able to afford £10,000 extra for a beat police officer. But it will create a two-tier police service where in affluent areas police numbers and resources are greater then where people are worse off. It is an admission by the government that they still do not have the right level of police in this country."

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