Police & Crime Bulletin November 2021
Pilot helps to prosecute drug dealers quicker
A pilot scheme run by Thames Valley Police has helped to prosecute drug dealers quicker than previously possible.
The year-long pilot scheme, in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), has helped to expedite the process of possession with intent to supply (PWITS) cases through the criminal justice system by fast-tracking the identification of drugs.
Since the beginning of the pilot on 1 October 2020, 25 cases have been submitted through Operation Yardbird, with six guilty pleas, and two sentences to date. The two sentences were for two years and eight months and three years and four months.
Previous procedures meant that it took an extended time for drug identification to take place meaning that there is the possibility of reoffending before charge.
With the evaluation by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and funding from the Violence Reduction Unit and the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner, the force has been able to bring drugs coordinators and spectrometers in-house, meaning that identification of Class A drugs can be fast tracked.
Project Vigilant to protect women in the night-time economy
As part of the Home Office's Safety of Women at Night (SWAN) fund, Project Vigilant has been awarded a further £297,252 to develop the project and provide bespoke training to officers to identify individuals displaying predatory behaviour.
Project Vigilant is an initiative that uses a combination of uniformed and plain clothed officers to carry out patrols in areas outside night clubs, bars and pubs, to identify people who may be displaying signs of predatory behaviour, such as sexual harassment, inappropriate touching and loitering.
Between 23 July and 4 November 2021, 117 people across Oxford, Reading, Milton Keynes and Windsor were stopped and ten arrests have been made in relation to predatory behaviour. Of those stopped that provided their details, 20% were found to have links to sexual or predatory offending and 21% had links to violent offending. Stops included those that were harassing women, making unwanted sexualised comments and loitering in areas where sexual offences take place.
This funding is in addition to funding already awarded to Project Vigilant earlier this year where Thames Valley Police received £90,000 from the Home Office to recruit a dedicated Sergeant to coordinate Project Vigilant across the force and commission an academic evaluation by Brighton University into the effectiveness of the project and the impact on future offending. The evaluation is currently ongoing and will allow us to have a better understanding of public confidence and how the force can improve engagement.
Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, said: “I am delighted to have successfully obtained this additional funding from the Home Office to support the important work of Project Vigilant, in identifying individuals displaying predatory behaviour across the Thames Valley.
"Project Vigilant is directly supporting my Police & Criminal Justice Plan by focusing on prevention and targeting the perpetrators of crime.
“Through a new partnership with Circles South East, we will provide a bespoke intervention programme, for individuals identified as displaying behaviour that may fall below the criminal threshold.
“This additional funding will further support the work of Project Vigilant, by allowing officers to take nationally accredited training to enhance skills in identifying suspicious behaviours.”
Government backs "Harper's Law"
Matthew Barber, Thames Valley’s Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) has welcomed the confirmation by the Government that it intends to place “Harper’s Law” on the statute book.
The new legislation, named after Thames Valley Police Constable Andrew Harper, who was killed in the line of duty in 2019, would introduce mandatory life for anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker whilst committing a crime.
The announcement wouldn’t have come about if it hadn’t been for the unflinching campaign of Andrew’s widow, Lissie, who has worked closely with the Police Federation in meeting with the Justice Secretary and Home Secretary to secure this change.
Police & Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber said:
“The triumph of Lissie’s passionate campaign comes out of the tragedy of Andrew’s killing. His death is still keenly felt by Thames Valley Police and this change in legislation is a fitting tribute to him.
It is right that the Government has backed the campaign for mandatory life sentences for those who unlawfully kill emergency workers in the course of their duty. As Police & Crime Commissioner I am well aware of the risks and dangers that our police officers face every day. The police will run towards danger to protect the public and they deserve our respect and protection in return. I am committed to doing what we can in Thames Valley to ensure the safety of our officers who put themselves at risk on our behalf.”
The move extends mandatory life sentences to anyone who commits the manslaughter of an emergency worker on duty – including police, prison officers, firefighters and paramedics – while carrying out another crime unless there are truly exceptional circumstances. Courts must already impose life sentences for murder, with a whole-life order being the starting point if the victim is a police officer.
The move follows recent government action to protect police, prison officers, firefighters and paramedics and ensure those who seek to harm them feel the full force of the law. This includes plans to double the maximum penalty for assaulting them to two years’ imprisonment.
New mobile CCTV cameras installed as part of Safer Streets project
New mobile CCTV cameras have been installed and switched on in Oxford as part of Safer Streets funding.
In July 2020, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner of the Thames Valley secured Safer Streets funding to tackle specific crime types, including bicycle theft, in hotspot areas across Oxford city to stop offences that have a significant impact on our local communities and cause considerable inconvenience and distress to many victims.
As part of this funding, four new CCTV cameras will operate in seven new locations in Cowley Road, Divinity Road, Morrell Avenue and Union Street. The new CCTV cameras will be mobile and can be moved amongst the seven new locations as required. The cameras will feed into the existing CCTV control room and will be monitored by trained CCTV operators.
The cameras will help reduce opportunistic crime and will provide extra security and safety for people in the city.
Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, said: “It’s great to see funding from Safer Streets being applied in a physical way to our communities. We have just been successful in securing nearly a million pounds in funding for the third round of the Safer Streets Fund and we will continue to build upon the good work that is happening from the first and second rounds.”
Home Secretary visits TVP training centre
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, alongside the Chief Constable, attended a visit from the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, at Sulhamstead last month.
Home Secretary, Priti Patel paid a visit to Thames Valley Police’s training centre, to celebrate a record uptake in the force’s female, black, Asian and minority ethnic recruits over the last 12 months.
Matthew joined the Home Secretary and a class of aspiring officers during a lesson on interviewing suspects, accompanied by Thames Valley Police Chief Constable, John Campbell.
Matthew said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Home Secretary last week, to celebrate the positive impact of the National Police Uplift Programme over the last 12 months.
“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, it is encouraging to see how we have been able to utilise the uplift programme to enable Thames Valley Police to create a more diverse workforce – something we are always striving to do. This will only strengthen the relationship between our officers and the communities we serve.”
For more information about joining Thames Valley Police, visit https://tvpcareers.co.uk/roles/police-officer/.
Thames Valley Police target serious violence with hotspot policing approach
Thames Valley Police are targeting hotspots across the force area to tackle knife crime and serious violence, with neighbourhood officers supported by additional specialist officers.
The force is also the first in the country to trial a new mobile phone app to target the patrolling of specialist officers to identified violence hotspots.
The Home Office has allocated £860,000 to the Thames Valley area, part of a £24m Serious Violence “Grip” fund made available to the 18 police force areas with the highest levels of violent crime. The funding is provided to increase the use of “Hotspot Policing” tactics, using frequent, short high visibility patrols in focused areas where crime takes place.
The Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit has undertaken detailed analysis of where crime associated with violence takes place, using new mapping technology to identify around 40 specific hotspots. The majority are in urban areas, in particular locations – certain streets, near bars, pubs, shops or institutions like schools or hospitals.
The additional Grip funding is available to local policing teams to plan operations on top of their day-to-day activity. They will deliver an increase in high visibility patrols and targeted operations against known offenders and to act upon intelligence.
The funding will also support increased deployments from specialist officers, bringing additional capacity and skills to local policing operations. This will include Roads Policing officers, with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology, highly-visible mounted section, dog units and Armed Response Vehicle officers. These specialist officers are the force’s more flexible resource, available to be tasked to areas of priority across the force area.
They will be the first officers in the country to use a new mobile phone app developed by the Violence Reduction Unit. The app pushes mapping and briefings, telling them which hotspots to patrol. It records time spent in the area and allows paper-less recording of activity. If successful, the app may be rolled out across the force.
Matthew Barber, the Police & Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, said:
“Overall knife-enabled crime is down by over 11 percent year-on-year across the Thames Valley, thanks to the hard work of our police, partners and with the support of local communities.
“However, it remains a priority for me that we take strong action against violent offenders, with a focus upon those who carry knives, whether to use in crime or from some mis-guided belief that it gives some sort of protection.”
Launch of Community Speedwatch scheme across Thames Valley
Following the success of a pilot scheme earlier this year, a Community Speedwatch scheme has launched across Thames Valley this week. The pilot, which ran in small areas of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, was so successful the whole of Thames Valley can now take part with the hope of reducing speeding in our communities.
Championed by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, new Speedwatch groups are being invited to take part in activities to both tackle and improve road safety across the region. As part of this work, they will have the opportunity to borrow speed detection equipment and devices, helping trained volunteers to assist in the battle against speeding motorists.
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, said: “I want to embed Community Speedwatch as a core part of Thames Valley’s response to road safety. The work that the volunteers of this scheme do is vital to the wider strategy to keep everyone safe on our roads.
“We’re delighted with how the pilots have gone and that we can now open up this scheme to the rest of the Thames Valley. Community Speedwatch is just part of a strategy to keep us all safe. The data gathered by Community Speedwatch will now be immediately visible to roads policing officers. The results from this work will lead into enforcement action by the police, and even notify the DVLA of breaches that fall within their jurisdiction.
“Undoubtedly the work of the volunteers on this scheme, in collaboration with Thames Valley Police, is helping to save lives and keep people safe.”
Before community teams are able to attend the roadside, they undergo a number of training sessions, to ensure risk assessments have been completed and protocols have been adhered to.
Community Fund supports local groups with more than £100,000
Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, and Chief Constable, John Campbell, have awarded voluntary and community organisations £107,670 in this year’s Community Fund.
The Community Fund provides biannual funding to voluntary and community groups that help to achieve the objectives of the PCC’s Police and Criminal Justice Plan. The money for the scheme comes from the sale of items seized and recovered from criminals, and is jointly managed by the PCC and Chief Constable.
There were 117 applications to this year’s round of the Community Fund, with 30 organisations successful in receiving funding of between £900 – £8,500 to support one of the PCC’s Police and Criminal Justice Plan priorities.
Matthew said: “I’m delighted to award this funding to community and voluntary organisations, who provide valuable services across Thames Valley.
“A key part of my Police & Criminal Justice Plan is to enable organisations to collaborate and tackle issues facing our communities. These organisations are all working hard in support of my Police & Criminal Justice Plan priorities for the region.
“I am pleased to provide this funding through the Community Fund, which is money that has been recovered from criminals, to support a range of projects across the area.
“I look forward to meeting this year’s successful recipients at the presentation event in December.”
Successful recipients have been invited to attend a presentation ceremony on the morning of Monday 13th December in Newbury. For a full list of organisations who have been awarded funding, please visit the Thames Valley PCC website.
£7.7m to help tackle anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, has unveiled plans to commit £7.72million over the next three years to support the work of Community Safety Partnerships.
Having set out his vision for tackling crime in his Police & Criminal Justice Plan earlier this summer, Matthew has highlighted the need to work in partnership with communities and local councils to tackle issues of neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour.
Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) are hosted by each local authority in Thames Valley and work closely with the police and other agencies on local projects to cut crime, making communities safer and reduce reoffending.
Following his election in May, the PCC pledged to review the support for CSPs. A new funding formula has now been set out which will see a fairer allocation of resources to local councils based on population, crime levels and non-crime factors such as anti-social behaviour. As part of the review, Matthew has also committed to a three-year funding settlement for local councils, allowing them to plan for longer-term projects that will have a greater impact on communities.
Announcing the plans, Matthew Barber said: “The work that my team does in partnership with councils and the police is invaluable. I am delighted to be able to demonstrate a long term commitment to support local projects that seek to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour through prevention and proactive work within communities.
“This funding is in addition to the work commissioned and carried out directly by my office to support Thames Valley Police and other agencies to tackle crime and make our communities safer.”
