The Crowthorne neighbourhood policing team had an extra member earlier this month: the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Sara Thornton, joined me on foot patrol around Crowthorne village on Tuesday 16 September. We went to the Morgan Recreation Ground, where we met representatives of some of the agencies who helped PCSO Ivana Houska with the summer youth project. They were Sue Kirby from Hope 08, the Revd Martin Caesar from the Baptist Church and Debbie Sweetland from the Wokingham Vineyard youth club at Edgbarrow School. Ivana was present to explain what the summer project entailed.
I talked to the Chief about the ongoing problems at Chaucer Wood, where anti-social behaviour has caused some concern. I have been doing a lot of work to resolve the problem, in conjunction with the park rangers and local Crowthorne residents, and the situation has improved significantly. We also patrolled around Broadmoor Hospital and the surrounding woodland area, where I explained the problems we have with mini motorbikes and kids making camps. A local resident commented that the police presence had stopped some of the problems there over the past few weeks. Finally, we visited a member of the public who lives near the Morgan Recreation Ground and discussed her concerns about anti-social behaviour.
As local people may know, the Crowthorne neighbourhood policing team has an ongoing initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour and youth disorder, called Operation Lion Cub. When the Lion Cub officers were on patrol on Friday 19 September, we received a call from a member of the public about a large group of youths congregating on the Morgan Recreation Ground. They ran off when police arrived, but we did confiscate a number of bottles of cider, some wine and cans of lager. Two youths were stopped and searched for drugs, although nothing was found. We phoned five sets of parents and asked them to come and collect their children. I would like to repeat my colleague PC Campion’s appeal to parents to be aware of where their children are and what they are up to in the evenings.
Quite a few people were out and about in Crowthorne on 15 September when PCs Gary Campion and Justin Barton were called to an incident in Dukes Ride. The officers arrested two 21-year-old men outside the chemist’s shop; both were subsequently charged with theft by shoplifting and will appear in court later this month.
I would like to remind residents that the neighbourhood forum for Crowthorne is being held on Thursday 6 November at 7.30pm at the Morgan Centre. I hope as many people as possible will come along to meet your neighbourhood officers, hear what we have been doing to deal with your priorities, and raise any concerns about policing issues. All members of the neighbourhood team can be contacted on 0845 8 505 505.
Thames Valley Police ~ Crowthorne
