Two new officers on the beat in Stockton town centre
Members of the Safer Stockton Partnership heard how the new officers had been noticed by residents and businesses as Operation Shield, a project aimed at making people feel safer, launched in Stockton.
They were also told of more funding for civic enforcement and community safety teams amid efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour and poor perceptions before the opening of the Stockton Waterfront urban park next year.
Chief Inspector Andy Evans from Cleveland Police said: “As of the last couple of weeks, we’re now going to have two officers providing a seven-day footprint within the town. It could – should – have a real big impact on that.
“They’re expected to be out there engaging with visitors, businesses and the like all the time. Joint patrols will continue on market days,” he added at the meeting on Wednesday (March 19).
“Out on the street, it was immediately noted by businesses and people, so really positive. I think it can help the town centre make some massive strides, especially with the development that’s going on. It has a massive impact on community feeling.”
Cllr Norma Stephenson, cabinet member for community safety, said: “I go in most days, I sit around the fountain and I try to talk to people. There is a feeling and a perception that things are safer.
“Not only do they see a uniformed officer, you have a police van in the town. People first of all think ‘what’s going on here?’ then realise they’re here for you.
“A bit more work to be done but I think it’s having an impact straight away. Businesses tell me it is, anyway.”
Adam Bateman, problem solving and partnerships officer for Stockton Council’s community safety team, said: “I’ve seen the impact a uniformed presence has and you can literally see people’s reactions to the uniform. I’m grateful that the approach is continuing and intensifying with more regular deployments throughout the week.”
He told how Operation Shield – aimed at improving safety and perceptions of safety in the town centre – had a phased launch last month. He said it brought together the council and police in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour by looking at the causes, like housing insecurity, substance addiction and poverty, and combined enforcement with support and recovery work to make the town more welcoming.
“I’ve seen recent examples where different methods of support and enforcement have provided the same positive outcome for eliminating ASB offending,” he said, referring to the prison sentence and criminal behaviour order given to an offender who hurled abuse at an enforcement officer.
“Contrast this with another case. Our community safety and focused outreach team managed an individual as part of the Shield project, a frequent causer of ASB. They worked together to secure suitable accommodation for this person and we received no reports of ASB since.
“We’ve eliminated that straight away. We didn’t need to go to court or go down that route.”
He said there had been good results from CCTV work, staff reporting wanted people in the town centre, police and enforcement officers chasing shoplifters. Several people were arrested and missing people found in days of action where they worked with partners including Stockton Angels, recovery services and licensing in large deployments.
He added: “It showcases our efforts to the public more prominently. Market traders and members of the public were pleased with the emphasis on the town centre.
“I received reports and information about local public concerns regarding safety, and reminded everyone that the best way to see change is to report concerns directly to the police and our enforcement service, rather than online on social media.
“There’s been more positive results, more arrests, more outreach for our recovery services. In the past week we’ve issued some community protection warnings for ASB-related offending on the high street.”
Community safety assistant director Marc Stephenson said they still needed to improve public confidence: “I think all of this work is absolutely vital. It’s really impressive stuff and I do genuinely believe it’ll make a massive difference.
“But what we can’t lose sight of is still the continued perception around the town centre. The perception from some parts of the community is that they’re still unwilling to come into the town centre without addressing those issues. This will be a long journey because we’ve got a lot of work to do to right some of those perceptions.
“We can’t enforce or police our way out of this. We are looking at measures that look at the causation factors around some of the behaviours that we see in the town centre.”
Cllr Stephenson added: “I think it’s down to us all to spread the message about perception and how good the town is, but also to police it and make sure we’re feeding back anything we observe.
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“I think things probably will get a bit better once it stops being a building site and starts to be a town centre. I want to see the anti-social behaviour and the perception get lower before the urban park opens. There’s a lot of work going on and lot of work to be done in the future. Hopefully we’ll get there.”
Mr Stephenson added: “It’s going to be a fantastic asset for the town and a place where families can come together. It’s also going to be one of our most prominent event spaces.
“There are significant plans well developed in place where we’ll have an uplift in resource to do our very best and make sure that urban park is a success and is a welcoming place for all. We will have staff following an increase in funding that we’ve received for our civic enforcement and community safety teams.”