Priority: Drug dealing and use particularly around residential properties being used to facilitate this.
You Said: Those involved in drug dealing/use are a concern for you, particularly where properties are being used by them in residential areas near where you live.
What we are going to do: We will continue to take action against those who allow their properties to be used by drug users and dealers using the powers we have along with our partners and we will ensure the properties do not fall back into the same situation.

November has seen a lot of positive action being taken against drug producers and dealers in Westcotes with approximately 150 cannabis plants being seized from local addresses. Additionally there were 24 instances of officers taking drugs from individuals; this ranges from people being stop searched in the street and being found in possession of personal amounts of illegal drugs to properties being searched and large amounts of illegal drugs and cash being recovered. Inevitably when we are taking action against those who profit from drugs we come across vulnerable people too, and it is important that we strike the right balance between taking robust action against offenders whilst supporting those who need it and are trying to escape from this life.
 
We have continued to target some of the factors that allow drug users and dealers to operate, mainly unused residential properties. These properties allow for homeless drug users to gather and take their drugs and can also act as meeting places for the dealers to supply their drugs out of sight. This has led to a concerted effort by the team to stop these addresses being used. Meetings are being organised with our partners to establish how we can speed up the process of removing people from empty properties and what we can put in place to prevent them from returning whilst respecting the legal obstacles.
 
Each time we engage with those who have been using an empty property we remember who they are so that we can complete follow up visits to make sure they have every opportunity to use the support mechanisms in place to move them away from that lifestyle. The team will actively go out and find these people at their usual haunts rather than wait for them to end up somewhere they shouldn’t be to try and stop them reaching the point where they are committing crime and ASB.

Priority: Antisocial Behaviour
You said: Antisocial Behaviour including those congregating to drink alcohol and make noise, youths preventing you from being able to relax in your own homes and businesses.
What we are going to do: We are following up on the warnings we have given out and escalating them where we find those committing ASB have not complied with the warnings they were given. A community meeting is in the process of being planned to ensure the steps we take remain relevant to you. We are recruiting 2 new PCSO’s to increase our visibility and capability.

WE DID: The team has been out engaging with the people who have been issued with warning notices for antisocial behaviour to ensure they do not fall back into their ways and are reminded of the consequences of offending. We have been monitoring the places you have reported to us including the people drinking around Bede Park, Paton Street and Wilberforce Road as well as other areas. A lot of the people we have engaged with reacted well to some verbal advice however for those who didn’t we will be revisiting the areas and if they are found there again we will be escalating our approach to them. We have 1 or 2 people begging at Shell Garage again, which brings with it drug use, this is after a long period of the location being free from this. The team will be back down there ensuring we stay on top of what is happening down there and that the location does not return to the busy hub for begging and drug use that it once was.

The team is continuing to drive down the ASB at Ashleigh Gardens. We appreciate the nuisance you have had to put up with but we have been working with our partners in the council and we are seeing good progress, work on the new gates has started which is going to go a long way to preventing the ASB from occurring.

We have also received some reports of people lighting bonfires in residential areas causing a nuisance. The council take on reports of this and they can issue an ‘abatement notice’ if a neighbour’s bonfire is causing a nuisance. Your neighbour can be fined if they do not follow the rules of the abatement notice.

Theft From Motor Vehicle

You said: You are concerned about your cars being broken into and statistics also show us that this is an area we need to focus on.
What we are going to do: A specific operation aimed at preventing these crimes occurring and targeting those committing them is underway.

We Did: We have continued to see a drop in the number of thefts from motor vehicles. The impact of the arrests that were made following the spate a few weeks ago is clearly still having a positive impact and we are still currently sitting below an average number of them in our area. That being said, it is important that we keep on top of this. We will keep doing our bit by monitoring the known thieves as they move through Westcotes, arresting anyone who offends as quickly as we can and continuing to engage with potential victims; and we ask you keep doing your bit by removing any easy wins for criminals such as leaving items on display in your vehicles, ensuring you lock them, park them in a well-lit area where possible and ideally in an area covered by CCTV.

You will see our PCSO's and PC's out engaging with our residents to share crime prevention advice so if you see us out please come and talk to us so we can listen to your concerns and tell you what we are getting up to.