Hebweb news 2009: Crime in Hebden Bridge

Crime in Hebden Bridge

Update Tuesday, 24 February 2009

The police neighbourhood website has now posted a correction:

There has been an error in the earlier article on the Trades Club – 13 Feb 09. The Trades Club has not gone for an Over 25s policy of admission as originally reported but has agreed that any events held, which are likely to attract a younger audience, will have a registered door supervisor in attendance and the policy will be only to allow admittance to persons who can produce valid identification. However, as originally stated, the Police will still be conducting regular licensing visits.

Report of the 6 weekly ward meeting

Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Yesterday evening was the second of the 2009 series of six weekly community meetings to be hosted by the local Police officers was held at the Police station.

There were some new faces amongst the members of the public who came along to meet Inspector Chris Norbury as he gave details of initiatives carried out over the last 6 weeks and reported crime numbers which again showed that Hebden Bridge has very low crime rates when compared to towns of similar size. Over the 6 week period only 31 crimes were reported representing less than one report per day with a high rate of associated arrests with one of these involving 2 men from outside the area. In a number of other cases positive enquiries are still ongoing.

The three priorities identified in January have been supported by initiatives over the last 6 weeks which have included the following:

On the 13th February test purchases of alcohol were attempted by youngsters in three outlets and all three refused the sales.
Crime prevention stalls have been held in Hebden Bridge Cinema and Mytholmroyd Community Centre.
A successful meeting has been held with the management at the Trades Club following a couple of incidents and an over 25s admissions policy has now been implemented.
Officers recently attended a PubWatch meeting.
The Smiley Face has been in operation on two occasions reminding motorists travelling on the A646 through the town centre of the 20mph speed limit.
Funding has now been secured for mobile phones for the Street Angels and the scheme is planned to be in operation before Easter.

An amount of additional funding for Calderdale has enabled some focused high profile policing and this Friday the 20th February will see Hebden Bridge benefit with additional pub visits being carried out.

Following questions and discussion the three priorities agreed for the next 6 weeks were:

Focus on the Paradise takeaway where youths have been reported intimidating staff and customers and continue to liaise with the Trades Club to monitor the new admissions policy.
Traffic issues - the Smiley Face has been rebooked for a couple of days to continue to remind motorists of the town centre 20mph speed limit and monitoring of the traffic lights at the junction of Albert Street and New Road will be carried out following reports of red light infringement as a result of the works being carried out in Albert Street.
Continuing to work together with local licensees to ensure that alcohol related crime remains at a minimum and that Hebden Bridge is viewed as a safe environment for residents as a result.

The next meeting will be held on the 31st March in the Police station at 6:30. As usual, this is an open meeting to which all members of the community are invited to attend. In addition regular local policing news for our area (updated weekly) can be found here.

Report from Lesley Jones