Police say: You name the issues (From Witney Gazette)

Police say: You name the issues

9:00am Wednesday 19th July 2006 in Witney By Samantha Simpson

PEOPLE in parts of West Oxfordshire are again being asked what issues they most want police to tackle as a scheme set up to prioritise policing of the area marks its first anniversary.

It is a year since police in West Oxfordshire launched their Neighbourhood Management policing programme, aimed at identifying and addressing residents' crime concerns and improving the way it is tackled.

Last July, three main priorities were identified following a survey of residents in Carterton, Burford and Bampton anti-social behaviour, speeding and traffic-related issues, and young people "hanging around".

Police said they had taken a number of steps to try to address the concerns, including increasing patrols, engaging with youths, clamping down on underage drinking and the sale of alcohol to under-18s, and buying special speed warning signs that flash at speeding drivers.

Neighbourhood Action Groups, linking police and the public, have been set up in towns and villages across the district.

Police are now holding a series of further meetings to give people the chance to tell them what they think policing priorities should be.

The next meetings take place at Carterton Community College tonight at 7.30pm and tomorrow night at Warwick Hall, Burford.

A newsletter, entitled Neighbourhood Matters, has been published giving details of the scheme and information about action taken by police in the district over the past year, and will be available at the meetings.

On Saturday, people were given the chance to see what goes on behind the doors of Carterton police station. It was the first time in more than a decade that the public were invited into the station, in Burford Road.

Chief Insp Dennis Evernden, local police area commander, said: "I've asked each of the neighbourhood managers in the district to hold a police station open day. Schools have fetes, churches have services, and I believe police should also hold events and make ourselves more accessible. We've been doing this in a number of ways."

The Neighbourhood Management programme is being rolled out across the county following its introduction in West Oxfordshire. Feel-good facts from report ACCORDING to official police figures, published in April, crime in the the Bampton, Burford and Carterton neighbourhood area has fallen by 27 per cent over the last year. Across West Oxfordshire, crime dropped by 5.1 per cent, down from 2,819 to 2,676 reported offences. Police said that out of more than 300 people consulted in Bampton, Burford and Carterton, 70 per cent knew the name of their local police officer compared to the Thames Valley average of eight per cent. Ninety-six per cent said they felt safe during the day and 73 per cent at night.