Issue - meetings

To consider an update on the Local Police Service from the Local Police Area Commander.

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 19 to 72, which gave an update on the local police service.

Shaun Virtue, Local Police Area Commander (Bracknell and Wokingham), stated that Wokingham was a comparatively safe Borough and that it fared well when compared with similar Boroughs across the UK. He stated that some areas of the country had moved away from local policing and the local knowledge that came with it, but Wokingham still had strong local policing links within its neighbourhoods.

Shaun stated that retained neighbourhood policing enabled the service to maintain community contact, but stated that this division was currently smaller than it had been in previous years. He added that between in the early 2000’s, Bracknell had put a lot of investment in to problem solving, and that this ethos was currently trying to be developed within Wokingham.

Shaun raised the issues around crime classification and increasing crime figures. He stated that although figures indicated a rise in all areas of crime within the Borough, much of this could be due to how crimes are classified as soon as they are reported. For example, if a member of the public called in that they thought they had been burgled, only for the police to find that their possessions were in their home (misplaced), the incident would still be classified as a burglary unless a cumbersome and time consuming administrative process was undertaken. He added that 25% of police workload was crime related, with the other 75% mainly consisting of safeguarding measures and risk mitigation.

Shaun stated that the Wokingham Police Station (that recently closed) cost £100k per year in rent alone, had no public access and was not in a suitable location. He stated that the new facility located within St Crispin’s School would provide a good opportunity to interact with young people in the area.

Shaun stated that looked after (and previously looked after) children and individuals with diseases such and Alzheimer’s and Dementia prove a big challenge for the police. He added that some global crime issues were beginning to have an effect locally within the Borough. He stated that the force does not have an issue with recruitment, but that there was an ongoing issue with staff retention, with double the number of officers leaving the force than there had been previously.

Bill Soane stated that there had been an emerging pattern of knife crime within the Thames Valley and asked whether bringing back stop and search procedures would assist with this. Shaun was of the opinion that stop and search was a useful tool for the police to have which required firm grounds to do so, and was body-camera filmed. He added that stop and search should be used sensibly, with clear justification.

Clive Jones asked how many police cars would be out on patrol around Wokingham during a typical evening. Shaun stated that it depended on the demand, but a minimum of 6 patrol cars would be deployed. He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26