Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Police Sergeant Mark Rabel based at Histon Station and have responsibility for the Histon Panel area – which embraces your village. I’ve been in post now for about 3 months. For your information I live in this area and have three kids – the two youngest attend local schools. What happens in this area – also affects me – I have a vested interest in your village!

South Cambridgeshire continues to enjoy a status of being a safe place to live and work. Our biggest crime problem continues to be burglaries with an average of one a day being committed throughout the area. Sounds a lot? Our geographic patch is approximately 350 square miles – it’s a massive area to patrol. A typical MO is that a window is smashed with an untidy search of the house before people make off with small valuables. It’s an awful experience for the victim of such a crime with a feeling of violation and the cost of replacing stolen items, repairing windows and changing locks. Awful. In the last several weeks we have apprehended and charged 8 individuals with burglary – interestingly all bar one of these thieves lived outside South Cambridgeshire – suggesting that our area is targeted by criminals. Preventing burglary and catching offenders remains our top local priority.

You can help by keeping vigilant for suspicious activity in your area and calling 999 if you feel something is amiss. Statistically there are very few successful burglaries where there is a working alarm system fitted. If you want advice in relation to the security of your property call your local Officer who will be only too happy to help and provide a free security survey.

The summers’ months are almost gone and we have had relatively little disorder in comparison to the same time last year. We were actively engaged in conducting summertime patrols in the green spaces in your area. Pretty well all events/carnivals have been without major incident.

Our next Panel meeting (where your local priorities are set) takes place on the 15th October at the Orchard Park Primary School and starts at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. The meeting usually finishes by 9.00pm and is your chance to meet your local Officers, get a more specific update in relation to Police activities in your area and ask questions or just observe. You are invited and very welcome to attend. For those that already know me I am also happy to talk about cricket!

Click here for more information about the Histon police team.

Sandra Davidson, the police sergeant for South Cambridgeshire has sent out the following:

QUOTE

Speeding is regularly raised as a concern at our local panel meetings and we have encouraged local residents to speak to their Parish Council if they feel there is a particular problem in their village, and to consider setting up a speedwatch made up of volunteers who are trained to carry out speed checks. A number of these schemes are now in existence and they are doing a great job reminding drivers of the need to keep to the speed limit.

To support these schemes and address community concerns about speeding we have set up a system whereby anyone can ask for a police speed check by using this link http://tinyurl.com/SCSpeedTeam.

UNQUOTE

There is also an active speedwatch group in H&I. Click here for its Facebook group.

In addition to the excellent notes from the constabulary in advance of the meeting (click here) the following were the major issues which were addressed and discussed. Representatives from the police and Mike Hill from South Cambs introduced themselves and proceeded to inform us of the areas of concern since the last meeting. Most are regular topics and are an object of discussion at each meeting.

Speeding

Some current staff are very keen to be involved in controlling the speeding in the villages. There is also going to be a form on the website (link to be supplied when it is up and running) which members of the public can notify the police of areas and times of noted speeding. It is a simple form which will ask for the road, the time and the speed limit on the road (if known). A confirmation will be displayed. This will allow the police to see if there is a consistent pattern to be addressed. The link will be on ecops and tweets etc.

Burglaries

The villages have suffered an unprecedented level of burglaries in the area. The area has been flooded with plain clothes officers, other measures and a lot of resources have been put in place to identify and apprehend the perpetrators. It would be inappropriate to give out details at this stage. There has also been an increase of high visibility policing.

Graffiti

This subject was brought up by me and the Milton representative. Mike Hill (SCDC) will follow up where they are in relation to dealing with it. As asked, I did stress the problem with the Gatekeeper’s Hut.

Fly Grazing

This is something that the police are looking to instigate measures to manage this.

Sgt Mark Wavell was introduced as the new sergeant  managing our area and has stated he is happy to be contacted directly with any issues or problems.

It was also acknowledged that the 101 system is not ideal. It was suggested that if you feel a police presence is genuinely needed, dial 999 and allow the operator to make the decision on how urgent your call is in relation to current resources at the time. 101 is to notify the police of something you think they need to be aware of. A rough guide is: if a crime or disturbance is currently being committed or is about to be committed dial 999. If it is information and is not a crisis dial 101 bearing in mind whether you think a police presence is really needed.

Click on the icon below for a pdf of Jo’s report.

The Neighbourhood  Panel for the Histon area met on Wednesday 12 February at Cottenham VC.   There were representatives from the Police, the Fire & Rescue Service and SCDC.

The message from Inspector James Sutherland is that South Cambridgeshire has the lowest crime rate in Cambridgeshire and has the lowest out of a group of 12 similar districts across the country with 30.9 reported crimes per 1000 residents.  However, it was also reported that the Histon & Impington parish has been the worst affected by the last rise in house burglaries over the last four month period and this remains a concern.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary and the South Cambs Safer Neighbourhood team are trying to make sure that we improve our own security to further deter burglaries and car crime.  Operation Oakland sent teams of police officers and PCSOs into South Cambridgeshire villages to look for security weaknesses in homes and garden sheds and to see how cycles and cars were secured.  Residents were alerted to any risks found.  More detail about Operation Oakland and how you can keep your own property safe is available on their web site: http://www.southcambscops.org/

Members of the panel outlined the importance of reporting incidents of anti-social behaviour through the appropriate channels because if they are not dealt with promptly they attract other incidences of anti-social behaviour.  Use the “Report it” button on the home page of the South Cambs web site https://www.scambs.gov.uk/  to report graffiti, fly tipping, abandoned vehicles, etc  or phone the police on 101 to report non-emergency items.

Other issues raised included the increase of inconsiderate parking outside our primary schools and the fact that village Facebook groups, whilst useful for sharing information, are increasingly being used to spread inaccurate information and false accusations.

The next panel meeting will be held on June 11^th at Swavesey VC.  If you have any issues you would like raised, please email the Clerk on clerk@hisimp.net or call the Parish Office on 01223 235906.