Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in Wokingham Town Centre and the area around the Norreys.

Wokingham Neighbourhood Policing Teams took part in national Anti-social Behaviour Awareness Week from 18th to 24th November. During the week, officers performed various walk arounds at reported ASB hotspots alongside the ASB Team from Wokingham Borough Council. Concerns were shared and heard, with plans set in motion to make improvements where needed to better disrupt and deter ASB in the area.

The Wokingham Neighbourhood Teams have carried out foot and cycling patrols around the Wokingham area to increase their visible presence and deter anti-social behaviour. They also carried out knife sweeps in locations where items may have been discarded as part of Op Sceptre, focusing on knife-related crime.

The Neighbourhood Team have conducted targeted patrols with Wokingham Borough Councils ASB team and are also working with partner agencies to target harden areas and perform intervention work with schools and the Youth Justice and Prevention Service.

Tackling thefts in the Wokingham Town Centre & Embrook/Woosehill & Norreys areas

The Wokingham South Policing Team and the Op Purchase Team have been working together to investigate and collect evidence for multiple shopliftings within Wokingham. With assistance from a dog handler from the Joint Operations Unit, 2 prolific shoplifters with many reported incidents were apprehended.

Wokingham South Neighbourhood Policing Teams took part in the national Safer Business Action Week. During the week we attended local businesses giving advice around reporting and dealing with shoplifting, provided a presence to deter shoplifting and gathered intelligence. We signed multiple stores up to the DISC system which allows shops to share information with each other and to report crime directly to Thames Valley Police.

We continue to work with local businesses to help ‘target harden’ their premises and support the Wokingham Shop Watch scheme which allows businesses to share information regarding incidents and offenders with each other and report them to the Police.

The Neighbourhood team continue to target individuals that cause the most demand and look for opportunities to arrest them at the earliest opportunity. We are also working with our partner agencies to offer support and preventative work with individuals where appropriate. We are also looking at further longer term measures to help prevent issues occurring in the first place.
We have arrested and charged individuals for thefts from shops and thefts of pedal cycles, with convictions at court for these offences.

Concerns around the use of E-Scooters/E-Bikes

It is not currently possible to get insurance for privately owned e-scooters. This means it’s illegal to use them on the road or in public spaces, such as parks, street pavements, and shopping centres.

If you use a privately-owned e-scooter in public, you risk the vehicle being seized under S.165 Road Traffic Act 1988 for having no insurance.

If you cause serious harm to another person whilst riding an e-scooter, the incident will be investigated in the same way it would if you were riding a motorcycle or driving a car.

Please be advised that If you breech the rules when using an e-scooter you could face a fixed penalty notice.The fixed penalty notice could include:
a £300 fine and six penalty points on your licence for having no insurance
a £100 fine and three to six penalty points for riding without the correct licence

You could also be committing an offence if you are caught:
- riding on a pavement: fixed penalty notice and possible £50 fine
- using a mobile phone or other handheld mobile device while riding: £200 and six penalty points
- riding through red lights: fixed penalty notice, £100 fine and possible penalty points
- drink driving: the same as if you were driving a car, you could face court imposed fines, a driving ban and possible imprisonment

The Wokingham Team are conducting high visibility patrols in areas where anti-social use of e-scooters and e-bikes have been reported. Officers will stop offenders and seize their scooters or bikes when it is safe to do so.
The Wokingham Team have conducted an operation around the anti-social use of bikes in the Wokingham area. This was centred around their use off-road. Two e-scooter warning letters were issued and if seen again, the scooters will be seized.
Two warnings were given under S59 Police Reform Act which relates to anti-social use of a motor vehicle.
One vehicle was also seized under the S165 Road Traffic Act for having no insurance.

We have made the public aware of the rules around e-scooters through social media campaigns, ensuring people are aware that: privately owned e-scooters can only be used on private land, they are illegal on any public highway, pavement or in a public space, and you cannot get insurance to ride them on the road.

The Wokingham South Policing Team recently received several responses to their neighbourhood surveys highlighting concerns from residents around speeding on Toutley Road, Emmbrook.

PCSO Williams recently organised a joint Speedwatch session with the Community Speedwatch Team. A number of vehicles were recorded travelling in excess of the speed limit and on this occasion the drivers of the vehicles will be educated about their speeding.

Community Speedwatch is a national initiative where proactive members of local communities join with the support and supervision of their local police to record details of speeding vehicles using approved detection devices. To join a local Community Speedwatch group and be involved in tackling speed related issues, please visit:
https://www.communityspeedwatch.org