Here is the monthly neighbourhood update for Finchampstead and North Crowthorne from Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Tony Smith:
Anti-social behaviour (ASB) remains the priority for residents and the Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) of Finchampstead and Crowthorne North. Operation Lion Cub will continue to run throughout the summer months at weekends.
Operation lion cub is an initiative targeting known hot spots every weekend. During the week, these same hot spots are patrolled on a regular basis. We have had a good degree of success in tackling under age drinking with several occurances of alcohol being seized and some of the young people being taken home to their parents.
Local Priorities for Finchampstead:
Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) – Reported locations have been attended and any person causing ASB shown the errors of there ways.
Speeding:
Speeding is a priority in Finchampstead and North Crowthorne and PC Thomas has been out and about with the speed gun in the Wokingham area with PCSO’s Ben Workman and Graham Edwards assisting.
I will be around the Finchampstead area with the Speed Indication Device (SID), in various locations on a regular basis these next coming months using the new SID device.
Litter:
After last months vigorous foot patrols, this month has been quite in the neighbourhood with fewer reports on litter.
Burglary is still occurring in Crowthorne, with several incidents of shed and garage break-ins. We request home owners with sheds and outbuildings to be more vigillent and check that locks on there outbuildings are adequate, if you have any doubts, please contact one of your neighbourhood PCSOs and they will be happy to advise you.
One way of trying to restrict the number of crimes in your area is to have a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. If there isn’t one in your street, you may like to start one yourself.
The neighbourhood watch network is all about getting their people together with their neighbours to take action to cul local crime and disorder.
Neighbourhood and Home Watch schemes are community initiatives owned and run by their members, they work to develop close liaison between neighbourhood households and the local police.
Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) are a useful method of getting to the heart of an area’s concerns and the two in our area are thriving. They meet on a regular basis to discuss problems or concerns and then report back on progress.
The fantastic new FBC Community Centre has opened in Finchampstead, and the police will be having office surgeries there so that we can be in the heart of the community, where members of the public can come and talk to us.
Every year, Oakland’s School in Crowthorne has a Police Week for their Year 6 pupils. This entails the classrooms being turned into a Police Station and a computer programme runs in real time where ‘crimes’ are committed and the pupils gather information to solve them. I attended 3 of the 5 days for a couple of hours each time.
Flying Start is a nursery for pre-school children, situated at Pinewood Leisure Centre, Old Wokingham Rd, Crowthorne. They were having a session talking about emergency vehicles and so I went along with a Panda car.
PCSO Tony Smith attended Nine Mile Ride School, Finchampstead to give a talk to the children on road safety.
PCSO Ben Workman attended a meeting at the new FBCentre in Gorse Ride, Finchampstead. This was between the Centre management, Police and other partners involved with the running of the centre and was to discuss how well things were going and what can be done to keep improving the service provided.
A new SID machine has arrived and so Ben has been out with it on Nine Mile Ride at California Country Park. PC Tom Thomas has been out with the speed gun around the area on several occasions and at one particular location gave a total of 10 fixed penalties.
On 15 May a 31 year-old woman from Grove Close was arrested for drink driving following a report from a member of the public at Pinewood Leisure Centre. She was released on bail until 20 June.
Child Safety Week is 21 – 27 June and a variety of events are being planned by Wokingham Borough Councils Childrens Centre, Thames Valley Police will be involved and give presentations to children and parents at the New FBC Community Centre at Gorse Ride, I will also be visiting schools in June and July with the Cycle marking kit and cycle riders who pass their proficency test with the school and community wardens will have their cycles stamped and placed onto the data-base.
I have been attending the various schools in Finchampstead giving talks with school children and checking on parking at the entrance to schools, not only from unthinking parents who like to park on the Zig-Zag lines but also from the occasional business lorry that obscures the school entrances, schools visited in Finchampstead are Nine Mile Ride School, Gorse Ride School and The Village School.
Please spare a thought for the Elderly residents in our area, now that the weather is changing, the days are getting hotter, we need to ensure that elderly residents are not suffering from heat stroke, if you know of a person who you regularly see around your neighbourhood and then is not sighted for a while, please check on them.
Thames Valley Police ~ Crowthorne North