Good morning,
This week we have continued to make a number of arrests of retail crime in the City, working with stores and CCTV to bring offenders to justice. We also continue to offer crime prevention support to stores, who have been repeatedly targeted in an attempt to target harden their premises to make it more difficult to steal items from. As I often say, we are very fortunate in Chester to have not only a really comprehensive CCTV network throughout the City, but it is staffed by really switched on and effective operators, who not only quickly locate offenders but also proactively identify offences and suspicious behaviour.
I authorised a Dispersal during the week, due to some poor behaviour in the City. This resulted in two arrests and subsequent charges and Bail Conditions to remain out of the City until their court appearance, again demonstrating to offenders that this behaviour wont be tolerated. It also provides additional evidence towards Community Protection Notices and Criminal Behaviour Orders, which are designed to curtail this type of behaviour in the longer term.
On the subject of Community Protection Notices, it is important that once issued, we enforce any breaches. This occurred this week, with two arrests being made for breach of Community Protection Notice. This too provides evidence towards Criminal Behaviour Orders.
We continue to plan future operations, as we approach the Halloween and Bonfire Night period, we will be deploying Operation Treacle, which targets the anti social behaviour associated with these events, with officers providing engagement in schools to highlight not only the impact on others this behaviour can have, but also the dangers it can present, particularly in respect of fireworks. We will be targeting ASB hot Spots during this period, to disrupt and deter any ASB taking place. I urge anyone to report any ASB issues that are taking place so we can target those areas.
We are also planning our Christmas operations. These will ensure an enhanced visible presence in the City, as it gets busier towards Christmas, along with a range of specialist assets that will deployed.
I have been raising awareness of the “Let’s Be Blunt” Campaign. This is being lead by Leanne Lucas, who was the Dance Teacher seriously injured in the Southport Incident and Professor Leisa Nichols. The campaign is seeking to remove the sharp points from knives in circulation. ONS data from last year shows that 46% of all sharp instrument homicides were committed with a kitchen knife and 76% of all sharp instrument homicides in the home were committed with a kitchen knife.
The work Professor Michols has completed research in relation to the use of knives, she has compared the injuries sustained involving a knife with a point on the end compared with a knife without. The results are clear, that there is significant less impact from a knife without a point compared to one with.
Cheshire Police are supporting this campaign to replace these knives to help keep people safe. There will be some clear places that will need support and prioritisation, such as addresses where Domestic Abuse victims live, who are at significant risk of injuries from a knife attack, as identified by the statistics above, likewise Care Homes where vulnerable children live and have easy access to kitchen knives, but it is also worth considering any location where there are knves present and whether it would be better to replace the current knives, with those that haven’t got a sharp point in order to help keep everyone safe.
De Montfort University has become the UK’s first safer knife campus, and the safer knife replacement scheme is continuing to grow across the country. Retailers including Morrisons, Argos and Amazon are also now selling round-tipped knives.
Thank you to all those who have provided support to this campaign so far.
To find out more information please follow this link to the campaign website Home | Let’s Be Blunt
Here is a video explaining the campaign.https://dmureplay.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=219974e4-944f-417b-a7bb-b4d6016b4341
Social Media
We place updates on the work we are doing on our Social Media accounts. If you are on Facebook please follow us. On our Chester Police page where we report on the activity we’re carrying out and have appeals for information relating to incidents that have taken place.
Residents Voice
We utilise Residents Voice to identify the issues that are causing the public concern. As the survey is anonymous we try to feedback on social media the work we are doing to deal with these issues. Please continue to complete these surveys. Whilst it is called a Residents Voice survey, it is equally important we hear from those who work in the City, so this is open to everyone to complete. If you have completed it before, please complete it on a regular basis so we are kept up to date with the current issues that are causing concern.
The link to the survey is below, and should only take a few minutes to complete.
Resident’s voice | Cheshire Constabulary
Kind regards,
James
James Wilson – Inspector – Chester Local Policing Unit
Chester Police Station| Blacon Avenue |Chester| Cheshire | CH1 5BD
Phone: 01606 364666 | Email: james.wilson@cheshire.pnn.police.uk
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