We have received the following letter from the top Police Officer in Bath and North East Somerset, Chief Superintendent Gary Davies:

He states that, “At the beginning of April our new crime year started and whilst it is an opportunity to look back on the success of the previous year it is also a time to set out the priorities and expectations for the following year.

It remains difficult to interpret the economic situation and its affect on crime. A reasonable rise in shoplifting toward the latter part of the year has not moved into other crime areas. The first month of the new crime year has seen a 6.5% reduction in total crime compared to April last year and we will work hard to sustain this reduction. Some excellent work in the last few weeks by my Officers who work in our Priority Crime Team saw the arrest of one young man for vehicle crime and he has subsequently admitted over 70 other vehicle crime related offences. Likewise some further tenacious work over a significant period of time has led to another man admitting he was responsible for 12 house burglaries in our area. Two excellent results.

Appropriately we have been reviewing our plans to cope with the likely impact of the pandemic flu virus. A significant amount of preparation was put into place/practice to prepare for the possibility of bird flu. Much of this work has been easily transferable and, therefore, puts us in a ready state to respond accordingly, albeit it sounds as if the first phase of flu is proving to be less impactive than first thought.

I have asked a small team of my staff, assisted by Council staff, to review our approach to PACT (Partners and Community Together) and the PACT meetings. The meaningful successes in some areas are not as obvious in others and the numbers attending vary considerable across the area. It is equally important that we have the capacity to sustain multi agency attendance. Local people having influence over local service delivery is essential and we must ensure we retain that key principle as we find the best way forward.

I am also the Chair of the Crime and Disorder Partnership and as a group we are in the final stages of writing a community safety plan. This sets out the key areas of work which we intend to carry out over the next couple of years. It builds on work that has been carried out in the past but also factors in feedback, new local and national performance indicators. It is important that we share this emerging plan with a wide audience. It is important that not only do local people have the ability to determine local priorities but they also have an understanding of the work being carried out by the Police, Council and other agencies to improve community safety.

Kind regards.

Yours sincerely

Gary Davies
Chief Superintendent
B&NES District Commander”