Policing in Hebden Bridge
and the Upper Valley
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Two issues dominated public concerns: anti-social behaviour, and the difficulty of communicating with the police.
Yesterday evening, 29th April a well attended public meeting was held at the Birchcliffe Centre to discuss issues around policing in the Upper Calder Valley.
Those present included members of the upper valley “neighbourhood policy teams”, several senior police officers, 3-4 councillors and members of the public. The meeting was chaired by Calderdale councillor (Cons) Geraldine Carter.
Chief Superintendant Alan Ford told the meeting that in Calderdale crime has never been lower and detections have never been higher (No sources cited). To the surprise of some in the audience he said that locally they were well on the way to achieving a 15 minute response for all emergency calls and a one hour response for high priority calls. They had an excellent police team, several of whom had won national awards.
However, Chief Sup. Ford said he was well aware that currently the main public concern was anti-social behaviour which affected the quality of life of those experiencing it to such an extent that some were wary of going out after dark. And that dealing with anti-social behaviour meant developing new approaches.
Extensive discussion took place about how difficult it was to contact the police. People were put off having to phone a call centre in Wakefield where the person answering first asked a series of set questions, including date of birth, and then had no idea of the local geography. Why couldn’t we just phone the local community police on their mobile phones? Chief Sup Ford responded that this was because it could interfere with their duties at the time - it wasn’t always appropriate for the officer to answer mobile calls. However, he conceded that there had been a problem with communication but hoped that with the current procedures this might change, and that they would in due course be making full use of email and the web.
Other points raised at the meeting were
- In some areas, there is a police officer attached to the local secondary school for both education and policing. Could this not happen here?
- Government campaigns have been quite successful in changing public attitude to eg, drink driving and smoking. Could not such a campaign also work for anti-social behaviour.
- Selling alcohol to those underage by local shops and supermarkets does not seem to be policed.
- The notice board outside Hebden Bridge police station was not used to publicise this meeting. Could this notice board not be used to provide information for members of the public?
- If we had the same policemen stay in our community for a length of time, they could walk the streets and actualy get to know local people who would often be only too happy to help keep them informed.
- Those from Todmorden were concerned that their police station had been moved to Hebden Bridge - they were assured that this was a temporary measure while repairs took place.
- Why isn’t Hebden Bridge police station regularly open to the public?
- Why were speed restrictions not enforced.
- Parking on double yellow lines/pavements - the police no longer issue parking tickets unless there is a serious obstruction.
- Anti-social behaviour: why couldn’t those involved in causing damage, eg, graffiti, be made to clean it up. Could we not have more reparation by offenders?
- CCTV - all cameras in the Upper Valley are going to be renewed during June and July. The new digital system will proovide images of a much higher quality.
- Supermarket consultation - a regular half hour in a local public place such as a supermarket where the local police could answer questions and meet the public they serve.
This was a good attempt at creating a dialogue between the police and the community. However, the venue had poor acoustics so that discussion was often strained and the chair, Cllr Carter talked far more than necessary, feeling that every point needed her lengthy response. The police officers present came over very well, and showed themselves to be genuinely interested in the views expressed, and open to new ideas.
More info
Hebden Bridge Neighbourhood Policing Homepage - includes local police contacts and procedures, a local police news round up, details of local groups and links to other police information pages.