Brighton and Hove
From here you can find station opening times and contact details for your local neighbourhood policing team, see the latest priorities and events in your area and view the local crime levels.
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On April 17 your District Commander took part in a day of live
webchats as part of our commitment to become more open and
transparent - you can watch the videos and read the conversations
about policing in your area on our Sussex Policing Live page.
District Commander's message: Chief Inspector Bruce Mathews
When I am out and about in the City I am often asked well what are crime levels like. It is often hard to define, because for me whilst working with numbers and levels of crimes on a daily basis it is important that I remember that each of these stats represents a victim of crime. I am also conscious to try and keep cold, raw statistics out of these updates. But I wanted to share the two key areas in current crime data for the city.
Firstly the good news relates to the Burglary of people's houses which are dramatically down. For instance in December we recorded fewer than half the number of offences usually expected during that month. This translates as 20% (or 166 cases) less this Police plan year (taken from 1 April). We however still remain focused on trying keep this figure low and if offences occur to catch those responsible. The public are also encouraged to follow basic crime prevention principles and ensure all doors and windows are kept secure.
The not so good news is the continued rise of thefts from
people, in particular smartphones from people out and about in the
city at night. These go from bags, tables and even from pockets.
The number of stolen phones is up 45% this year. Now we are running
regular operations to try and prevent, deter and arrest people and
have had recent success with one man pleading guilty to nine
related offences whilst another was arrested following good work by
a club in possession of eight phones. These phones cost a lot and
hold a lot of data and photos so keep them close and keep them
secure when you are in the city. A few simple ideas to help
us reunite you with your property is to know the unique IMEI number
(press *#06# to find it), and get all the details recorded at
www.immobilise.com. Also if you know where these items are
being disposed of or sold then let the police or Crimestoppers
(www.crimestoppers-uk.org 0800 555 111) know. This is a key
crime area for a number of major cities and my Operation Tealeaf
team are leading the work on preventing this crime and making
Brighton and Hove a hostile environment for phone thieves.
On a lighter note I have joined the ranks of Twitter, alongside a
number of colleagues delivering policing in the city of Brighton
and Hove. If you would like to follow me then find me
@CIBruceMathews.
As is usual I will now give a general update on policing activity
locally in the key areas for Neighbourhood Policing:
Confidence and Community Satisfaction
Just before Christmas I was really pleased to hear that one of my
team, PC Rachel Piggott, was awarded the Community Hero award by
BBC Sussex and Surrey. Rachel is part of the LGBT team here and
this is tremendous recognition for her work and that of the team.
To hear Rachel talking about her work please watch this video.
There have been some issues around Moulsecoomb & Coldean over
football related parking. This has been raised within Local Action
Teams and we are meeting with partner agencies over the issue. As a
temporary measure we are placing parking cones at strategic
locations I would ask all people visiting the AMEX to try public
transport but if driving be considerate, safe and legal when
parking. A big safety risk still is emerging as some fans are being
dropped off and picked up on the A27. This is hugely dangerous and
must be avoided, please make proper safe arrangements for the sake
of an extra few minutes.
Also Neighbourhood Councils are an interesting development by
B&H City Council. Neighbourhood Policng is keen to be actively
involved in helping to evolve these. For more details and to
take part in the consultation please visit the BHCC website.
Crime and ASB Reduction
Three shoplifters were arrested following report on the Business
Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) "Shopwatch" radio that they had
been seen possibly de-tagging clothes. These three were detained
and property recovered and all three dealt with by community
resolution. This included attending the BCRP for half a day
to have some education around theft and spend the other part of the
day in a charity shop volunteering their services. All three were
youths unknown to police and process agreed with
parents/BCRP. Which really shows, I believe, a positive use
of community resolution and sends a strong message around shop
theft.
My team were actively involved in ensuring Brandon Gunn, 13 yrs
old from Whitehawk, was given an ASBO due to his behaviour around
Hamsey Close. The court also took the unusual step of lifting
reporting restrictions on a 13 year old and the Argus printed the story.
Unfortunately he has already breached his ASBO. He has been
arrested and is currently on bail to court.
Enforcement
Some examples of action from across the division :
• Following a burglary in the Dyke Road area a
number of the second hand outlets were contacted to ascertain
whether a distinctive computer had been offered for sale. As
a result two of the suspects were identified and arrested.
Officers recovered the stolen laptop as well as property from a
theft from a vehicle.
• Officers attended Coalition nightclub due to
report of thefts in the nightclub and two people have been arrested
for theft of phones from handbags.
• Officers recently assisted with the closure of
a squat in Wellington Road.
• A man has been located and arrested for a
burglary in Whitehawk
• A proactive stop of a local suspect resulted
in £2000 in cash being seized from the vehicle and 2 people being
arrested for money laundering. A search of their home address led
to the seizure of cannabis and items connected to drugs
supply.
Contribution to wider Policing
The One Show on BBC, conducted interviews and followed the work of
PC Gee and PC Harrison Jones from Hove. This was shown on TV on
Tuesday 10th Jan at 7pm. This was predominantly to promote
the new national non-emergency number 101. For us
locally it replaces the old 0845 number. But this is also a
national number: 101 is the number to call when you want to contact
your local police - when it's less urgent than 999. It is available
24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We are assisting colleagues from Roads Policing in Operation
Airwalk. This is a joint approach also including Fire Brigade, VOSA
and B&H council focusing on educating drivers rather than
prosecuting for speeding, mobile phones and seatbelt offences.
Drivers are given the option of watching a road safety video rather
than getting a ticket. At a recent event in Hove 38 motorists were
spoken to.
We are in discussion with a company to place trackers in laptops.
This would be particularly aimed at the universities to reduce
thefts of these valuable items both in terms of cash value as well
as all the coursework.
And finally…just to prove old fashioned values still have a place
in modern policing: an 83-year-old with difficulty walking,
contacted us to say she was standing on the edge of the road,
waiting for an opportunity to cross safely, when some patrolling
officers stopped and insisted on helping her across the road. With
all the traffic held up both ways. She said "I felt like
royalty!"
A number of people have contacted me to pass on comments about
policing locally, which I welcome and really encourage. If you have
an issue please try your local team, the details of which are on
the following pages. I am however always happy to hear any comments
you have on your local issues or what we can do better, and as ever
I can be reached on bruce.mathews@sussex.pnn.police.uk. For
those tweeters out there I can also be found on Twitter
@CIBruceMathews. Look forward to hearing from you.
Bruce
Chief Inspector Bruce Mathews
District Commander