Parish Council
The Police and the South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership have initiated quarterly meetings with Parish, Town and Borough Councillors. This has provided information about the levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in West Devon and how the Police are prioritising their responses. There is also an opportunity for Councillors to share concerns, although it is stressed that there are a number of ways that Councillors and the general public can share concerns directly. The meetings are not intended to explore specific incidents in detail. However, we were able to share intelligence confidentially.
Main points from the 15th November meeting ( from notes provided and dated incorrectly as 6th September)
West Devon Policing priorities remain:
The Operational Priorities in terms of day-to-day focus are:
Over 50 officers and staff physically based in West Devon across a number of different sectors.
Front Enquiry Office in Okehampton likely to be a “Grand opening” in the new Year and it will be open 6 days a week from 9am – 2pm.
There is a determination to publicise what West Devon Police, Tavistock Police and Okehampton Police are doing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The Community Safety Partnership is also on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/WestDevonPolice
https://www.facebook.com/TavistockPolice
https://www.facebook.com/OkehamptonPolice
https://www.facebook.com/SouthDevonDartmoorCSP/
West Devon remains the safest sector in Devon and Cornwall with the lowest number of incidents overall, the lowest number of Anti-Social Behaviour incidents and the lowest number of Domestic Abuse incidents across the force area. Devon and Cornwall Police is also the Safest force in the Country.
However, traffic incidents are high and this is due to the A30 running right across our area as well as the hundreds of miles of roads in a large geographical area.
There has been a rise in the number of ASB incidents recently in Okehampton. Whilst the police do not usually like to criminalise the few young people, other interventions have not worked and so referral has been made to the Youth Justice Service for further action.
The Police prioritise areas where there has been concern, and it was noted that some patrol cars had been diverted off the A30 occasionally to reinforce the speed limit through Sticklepath. The Police are aware of the 20’s Plenty signs and that Sticklepath will be part of a joint-Parish Speedwatch campaign using volunteers with radar guns.
The Community Safety Partnership has has had over 5000 Let’s Talk face to face engagements covering pre-teen, special needs/neurodiversity, Pornography concerns etc. The content is going to be recorded and published on YouTube. The CSP will also be introducing a new campaign re Domestic Abuse issues.
Date of Next liaison meeting is 24th January 2024 at 7pm