Front page news from the Safer Havant Partnership

Students pledge to be ‘Junior Citizens’ at partnership event

Over 800 Havant pupils pledged to be a good citizen and do their best to make their local area a better place at the recent Junior Citizen event. 

This exciting two-week event provided Year 6 pupils (aged 10-11 years) with six thought-provoking and interactive scenarios aimed at raising awareness of community safety issues and giving advice on dealing with a range of difficult situations.

Now in its twenty-second year, this year’s Junior Citizen event has received an exciting new look and feel, with a number of new scenarios and a focus on crime and anti-social behaviour issues. 

The Safer Havant Partnership used crime and anti-social behaviour statistics along with responses from residents to tailor key messages to issues that were relevant to the Havant Borough, with a new focus on issues such as shoplifting, alcohol and anti-social behaviour.  Some of the exciting scenarios include:

• Find out what to do if your smoke alarm goes off and make a 999 call with the Fire Service.
• Get vital first aid training which may help you to save a life with the Red Cross
• Meet the local police teams who are working in your area
• Learn about dodgy counterfeit goods and age restrictions with Trading Standards
• Discover more about the grimy side of litter and graffiti with the Council’s Environmental Rangers
• Learn more about the consequences of committing crime and anti-social behaviour with an all-new Safer Havant Partnership scenario. 

The event received very positive feedback from pupils and teacher alike, with comments including: ‘An incredibly valuable and worthwhile event that engages at children’s level on what it means to be a safe citizen’ and ‘extremely worthwhile – could very well make the difference to lives.’

Working in partnership to reduce arson levels with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service

“In order to tackle the issues of arson and criminal damage in the Group, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service work closely with partner agencies within the Havant and East Hampshire Council areas.  Together the partnerships have set about working on different initiatives aimed at making significant reductions to arson and criminal damage within the newly combined Group.

This focused approach to reducing the possible injury and disruption caused by deliberate fire-setting and criminal damage in the Havant and East Hants group has seen considerable success with recent projects.

The Halloween and fireworks campaign saw both fire service staff and police officers use a number of approaches to reduce both the fear of crime and arson.  Joint teams approached local schools to offer advice on safe trick or treating and firework safety. This was reinforced with the campaign message ‘Have fun, stay safe and respect others,’ which was distributed on day-glo wristbands during Halloween and at fireworks events across the groups.

The group also saw bonfire assessment teams deployed on the 5^th of November. This joint agency team, co-ordinated by the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Community Liaison Officer, were deployed to small fires in the open where a risk assessment was conducted by the team.  Where the fire was part of an organised event and was being safely managed, it was allowed to continue. 

This approach allowed for fire appliances to be available for genuine emergency calls over this busy period and led to a reduction in calls for the October period to deliberate fires by 50% and calls across the group for the year to date by 34%.

To finish I would like to wish you all a safe and Happy New Year and would also like to thank all agencies that helped contribute to making the residents of Havant and East Hampshire safer in 2010”.

Making neighbourhoods safer with Hampshire Constabulary

Chief Inspector Will Schofield, Police District Commander for Havant and Waterlooville on partnership working in the Havant Borough:

“I continue to be a proud member of the Safer Havant Partnership, which is now well-established and is really adding value by ensuring that local agencies work closely with the community to tackle their issues.

This year we have continued to see good results with a significant drop in recorded criminal damage, which has reduced by 43% compared to 2007 and a 36% fall in rowdy and nuisance behaviour compared to the same period.  We continue to work hard to investigate crimes and deal with offenders and are currently solving 28% of reported crimes.

The police Safer Neighbourhoods teams have now been in place for two years and have developed a real sense of ownership for the neighbourhoods they serve. There have been numerous events across the borough where local police officers have worked closely with local residents, such as fetes, public meetings, school events and at the upcoming Junior Citizen event.

The Designated Public Place Order is a valuable tool that provides my staff with the power to seize any alcohol in a public place where it is suspected that the individual may later cause anti-social behaviour. I was recently patrolling with officers when we were called to a problem in a park where a group of young people were drinking.  All the alcohol was taken and emptied and there were no further calls to the area that night. This is typical of the work that our officers are carrying out almost every day.”

External link to further information on your police Safer Neighbourhoods Team >>