THE AREA of South Worcestershire, taking in the magnificent City of Worcester, beautiful rural towns such as Droitwich, Malvern, Evesham and Pershore and all the pretty villages in between, is an amazing place to live, work and visit.
I am immensely proud to be the Superintendent, Local Policing Commander for South Worcestershire, an area that for me, personally, is of special importance.
In this, my first newspaper column, I hope to introduce myself and tell you about a few of my key priorities, plus some of the fantastic work the officers and staff are doing in your community.
Having worked in West Mercia Police for 22 years, a significant amount of my service has been in South Worcestershire – be that as a Detective Sergeant in CID, an Inspector on 24/7 patrol, or as a Chief Inspector responsible for Safer Neighbourhoods.
As a result, I feel I understand the area, am attuned to the local issues, and ideally placed to shape your local policing response.
At the heart of listening to and understanding community concerns are my Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT).
Within South Worcestershire these teams, made up of police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs), supervised by a local sergeant, work from several bases across the county – Tenbury to Pershore and everywhere in between, providing accessibility and visibility to all members of the community.
Recently, I have set up a separate Neighbourhood Crime Fighting Team, with the additional funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner, to work alongside my SNT.
This team of ten additional officers and an additional sergeant work with SNTs to identify those individuals who cause the highest harm to the community and take swift and positive action.
To date, this team has undertaken drugs warrants, made arrests for offences ranging from sexual offences to theft, detained offenders who have breached their bail and have conducted high visibility patrols in areas identified as ‘hot spots’ for Anti-Social Behaviour.
My commitment to tackling the issues and crime that happen in your area is clear and I would encourage you to visit neighbourhoodmatters.co.uk – a website we use to share crime prevention advice, messages, and information and much more.
Here you will see the fantastic work your local teams do and keep up to date with your local SNT members.
Now to key priorities – the summer holidays are a particularly busy time for us. With the (hopefully) sunny weather, we do see an increase in crime being reported, particularly alcohol related.
This not only increases demand for us, the police, but also on our partners in the NHS and Ambulance services.
Please, have fun but be responsible and look out for each other. With children off school, it is also a time where online activity increases.
As a parent I would ask you to check your children’s security settings on any devices and reassure yourself that any communication online with other parties is appropriate.
For those users of online forums and social media visit the Childline website – childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/staying-safe-online/ – for some great advice.
On the theme of school and higher education, I hope all those who have received exam results, or awaiting them, get what they have worked hard for.
For those looking at careers, I would say being part of the police family, whether as a staff member, PCSO or police officer, offers great rewards and opportunities, as after 22 years, I can say that no two days have been the same.
It is still, in my opinion, the best job you can have.
Supt Becky Love
South Worcestershire Local Policing Commander
