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Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley Devon & Cornwall Police Police Local Neighbourhood

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Map of the Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley Policing Area

Yellow markers represent Police Forces and the red markers represent neighbourhoods within Devon & Cornwall Police.

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653.521968-2.164306

Towns and Villages within the Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley Neighbourhood

The Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley is policed by the Devon & Cornwall Police and covers the following settlements.

Settlements located within Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley
Name Type County
Barnstaple Town Devon
Bishop's Tawton Village Devon
Landkey Village Devon
Westacott Village Devon

Worst Locations for Crime within the Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley neighbourhood

April

The Top 5 Worst Locations for Crime in the Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley neighbourhood in April 2019
Town Type County Location Number of Crimes Committed
BarnstapletownDevonOn or near Walnut Way2
LandkeyvillageDevonOn or near Bakery Way2
LandkeyvillageDevonOn or near Sloe Lane1

March

The Top 5 Worst Locations for Crime in the Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley neighbourhood in March 2019
Town Type County Location Number of Crimes Committed
BarnstapletownDevonOn or near Castle Park Road2
BarnstapletownDevonOn or near Stoat Park2
BarnstapletownDevonOn or near Walnut Way2
LandkeyvillageDevonOn or near Parking Area2

February

The Top 5 Worst Locations for Crime in the Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley neighbourhood in February 2019
Town Type County Location Number of Crimes Committed
BarnstapletownDevonOn or near Walnut Way5
BarnstapletownDevonOn or near Peards Down Close2
BarnstapletownDevonOn or near Lower Moor2

Neighbourhood Events for Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley

TitleDescriptionDates
Diversity Festival

meeting

Barnstaple Diversity Festival at Castle Green

Start: 15/06/2019 08:00

End: 15/06/2019 16:00
Oceanfest Croyde

meeting

Write your meeting description here...

Start: 21/06/2019 09:00

End: 21/06/2019 10:00

Police Officer Information for Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley

NameRankBio
Jessica McEldon PCSO
Joe Seymour PC
Mark Harper Sgt
Andy White PC
Michael Brown PC
Lucy Robinson PC
Simon Barrett PCSO
Anthony Charles PCSO
Debbie Bolsom PCSO
Sarah Wrey PC
Ron Gibson PCSO
Stephen Huxtable PCSO
Earl Napier Insp
James Wood PC
Richard Preston Sgt

Neighbourhood Priorities for Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley

IssueActionDates

Safeguarding the Vulnerable

Safeguarding vulnerable people lies at the core of how we Police in our community.

We rightly put safeguarding vulnerable children and adults as one of our key responsibilities.

We identify our local vulnerable people through community connectivity, research work, on street interactions as well as through information sharing with our key partners such as Schools, Health and Social Care.

All children by virtue of age, and any adult who has a physical or mental impairment or illness, which includes conditions such as physical, mental, sensory, learning or cognitive disabilities or illnesses and brain injuries as well as impairments that arise from substance misuse & frailty will be deemed by us to be vulnerable.

We routinely come into contact with individuals in our community falling under this definition. In many cases these individuals require support and assistance but where appropriate enforcement activity is a final resort open to us.

Issues we are currently addressing are:-

Vulnerable Adults.

Each officer within your neighbourhood team currently carries a number of enquiries relating to vulnerable adults within our community.

These can be adults who are high demand callers to the Police and Ambulance service.

It can also be people who for a variety of reasons have not been flagged to social or mental health care services before but who we have identified through our community links or on street interactions as having an apparent vulnerability requiring support. 

These may be adults struggling with mental health issues, adults struggling with addiction issues or other problems that make them specifically vulnerable and struggling to cope in our community.

We work in conjunction with our partners in the mental health, addiction support, homeless outreach and social care arena holding meetings, making home visits, completing referrals and identifying actions that will best support these individuals safeguarding them whilst simultaneously reducing the demand on frontline Policing and Medical services.

Street drinking

You have told us that people continue to drink alcohol and behave anti-socially within the No Alcohol Designated Zone in the Town Centre. We urge you to continue to make these reports to us either directly by phoning 101 or emailing via 101@dc.police.uk

Our community, which is rarely directly affected by more serious crime, is concerned about neighbourhood security and therefore feel the effects of anti-social behaviour, incivilities and disorder keenly. These events that often go unrecorded can have more impact on communal feelings of safety than the actual level of recorded or serious crime in the neighbourhood.

The implementation of the new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) at the start of the year by NDDC provides specific legislation around the no drinking zone in the town. Barnstaple Town Centre Officers are working in conjunction with our partners both in addiction support services and at the Council to try to deal with this complex social issue.

A number of high visibility uniformed and plain clothes patrols have been completed over the last few months with alcohol seized and disposed of and a number of offenders subject to escalation via existing Anti-social Behaviour legislation or have been reported to court.

This problem is obviously worse during the warm weather periods and both officers and PCSO’s continue to routinely patrol the known ‘hotspots’.

Begging

You told us that "Begging" was an issue in the Town Centre that has caused both members of the Community and Business owners alarm and distress. 

This is a complex social-economic problem requiring a multi-agency approach to have an effective impact whilst simultaneously supporting what are often individuals with complex needs and issues whilst often living chaotic lifestyles also.

You’re Neighbourhood Beat Team and our partners in the Community Safety Partnership, the Town Centre Management team, North Devon District Council, The Rough Sleepers Outreach Team, Addiction support services and Mental health Services via the National Health Service are all involved in addressing this on-going issue.

A number of those previously vulnerable and homeless individuals have already received assistance and support to help them move into suitable accommodation and sort out their financial situation. This helps to remove the need to beg and helps them move into a less chaotic life situation where further support work can be more effective.

We are not complacent and work continues in this arena but signs are that things have improved dramatically in recent weeks. 

Recently a multi agency approach between officers from EHO and the Police was undertaken in the town centre.

These consisted of high visilibity footpatrols wereby officers primary role was to deter any ASB and deal with those individuals who were breaching the Public Space Protection Order - PSPO.

Working alongside our partner agencies, such as local authority, Encompass, Freedom Centre, and Housing First.  We are pleased to report that several homeless people have been found accommodation.

Update: 26 April 2019 - Vulnerable Adults

Officers in the Neighbourhood Beat Team and other policing departments are working with a large number of other agencies to help support vulnerable adults who been bought to our attention, either through repeat calls to the police or from other agencies.

The process of supporting these individuals, using a multi agency approach, can take a long time to resolve and is usually very complex.  

Update: 26 April 2019 - Begging

In the past 2 weeks there has been no specific spike in the number of beggars in the Town Centre and reports of ASB is low.

Reports of begging still remains low. Though this maybe be partially due to the increased footpatrols by officers in the town centre.

Update: 26 April 2019 - Street Drinking & ASB

The main area for Street Drinking is Church Lane, St Annes Chapel, Paternoster Row and the Strand (Waterfront).
This has been an issue for some time with the Neighbourhood Team attempting to escalate individuals through ASB legislation and prevent drinking via the PSPO (Public Space Protection Order) that is now in place in the Town Centre. All of these avenues have been exhausted and the problem appears to be increasing in both the number of individuals present and the type of behaviour exhibited. The call volume to the police has escalated considerably. A number of PCSO's have been assaulted while trying to enforce the PSPO.

It has also been noted by attending officers, that groups of teenagers, possibly due to the school holidays, are also gathering in these locations at the same time.

The increase in ASB and alcohol drinking has raised the priority to a Primary Tasking for the Local Policing Authority.

Since the last update, officers have increased the amount of footpatrols within the town centre. Resulting in positive action being taken against those drinking within the Designated No Alcohol Zone and also those causing ASB.

Issue dated: 18/07/2018

Action dated: 26/04/2019

Child Criminal Exploitation

What is Child Criminal Exploitation?

Child criminal exploitation is increasingly used to describe this type of exploitation where children are involved, and is defined as:

Child Criminal Exploitation is common in county lines and occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18. The victim may have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual. Child Criminal Exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology.

Criminal exploitation of children is broader than just county lines, and includes for instance children forced to work on cannabis farms or to commit theft

The most vulnerable will continued to be supported, through education and other agencies.

Those corrupting the vulnerable will be targeted through enforcement.

Education diversion was given on a 1 to 1 basis, that coupled with positive action saw a disruption and disbandment of local gangs.

Further education in schools will continue as well as targeted interventions as they arise.

We work alongside the Youth Intervention Team (YOT) and our own specialist interventions officers, as well as other youth support agencies in order to protect our young people.

 

Issue dated: 30/11/2018

Action dated: 30/11/2018

Drug Misuse. Use and supply.

The Neighbourhood Beat team are continually tackling the constant flow of drug trafficking and use in Barnstaple. We are aware, having listened too and consulted with the community that drug supply and use is a major issue and concern for the public. With this is mind, we have conducted various operations, details of which we cannot divulge for obvious reasons, but we encourage you the public to give us as much intelligence as possible to help us combat our fight against drugs. We also work with Community Safety Partners to educate and provide support for those vulnerable to drug misuse.

During April a number of positive drug warrants were executed in the Barnstaple area, which resulted in several arrests, and a quantity of cannabis plants and hydroponic equipment seized and destroyed.

Issue dated: 30/11/2018

Action dated: 30/11/2018

Connectivity with our community.

Connectivity with our local communities helps us to understand your needs and concerns.  North Devon is a diverse community, that requires a tailored police response to ensure that community matters are assessed, reviewed and ultimately it provides a way for you to tell us about the issues that are important to you and allows us to keep you better informed about what we are doing to address those concerns. It also provides a way for us to communicate with you about what you can do to help keep you and our community safe.              

Every member of your Neighbourhood Policing Team lives locally. We are part of, and live in, the same community as you, therefore what’s important to you is important to us also. We pass and obtain information through regular interaction with local forums such as the monthly town council meetings and town centre management meetings. We provide, via the main website, information about who your local Neighbourhood Policing Team are.  How you can contact them and the current Policing priorities for your area and our activities around them. Communicating well with you is one of them!   Also provided is an email address for non-urgent reporting of concerns and issues. This is monitored and responded to by the Neighbourhood Policing Team.  Every contact via email receives a response from a member of your neighbourhood policing team.

We are also heavily engaged with our local community through our attendance at a range of local community events such as the Barnstaple Diversity Festival, Christmas light switch on, Late Night Christmas Shopping as well as other sporting and public events in the local area to provide highly visible reassurance, a Police response if required, and the opportunity for our community to interact with us.

Evenst in recent months include:

February & May officers attended a Property Marking session at Rawle, Gammon & Baker, Barnstaple were they property marked power tools belonging to trade persons, this was as a result of the recent thefts from vans in the area.

March officers from the Neighbourhood Beat Team along with partner agencies, which included local councillors, staff from The Freedom Centre, and NDDC were in Barnstaple Town Centre talking with members of the public about ‘Spare Change or Real Change’, which is an initiative to not only help those who are homeless, but also educate the community on how best to help these vulnerable members of our community.

When we are not dealing with specific dynamic or priority incidents we are always willing and happy to talk and offer advice., therefore please contact us via barnstaple_east@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk

Ever considered becoming a police volunteer? If you would like to know more, please contact us via email 101@dc.police.uk

Update: 23 May 2019 - ASB in the Yeo Vale area of Barnstaple

There have been no recent reports of ASB in the area. Officers will continue to patrol the area and enage with both local residents and the children when workloads allow.

 

Update: 23 May 2019 - Graffiti Priority - Closed

No new reports, so this part of the priority has been closed.

However it can be ressurected should the need arise.

Update: 23 May 2019 - Tour of Britain Cycle Race

The majority of Barnstaple Neighbourhood Beat Team were on duty during the running of this event.

As we had no direct taskings, with the running of the event, such as manning road closures.

It was a great opportunity for officers to engage with local residents in a relaxed atmosphere.

Update: 23 May 2019 - Further Mini Moto Sighting

Report of a Mini Moto being ridden in Whiddon Valley area on August Bank Holiday Monday. Officers attended but unfortunately, there were no further sightings of the bike.

Update: 23 May 2019 - Graffiti

There have been no recent reports of graffiti to the police in Barnstaple. The priority and subsequent enquiry is likely to be closed pending any fresh reports. However it can be resurected at anytime should things change.

 

Update: 23 May 2019 - Continued Patrols

Officers continue to patrol the area around Yeo Vale.

On the last occasion - 01.09.18 it was very quiet with only one child seen riding their scooter.

Update: 23 May 2019 - Recent Speed checks

On 09/08/2018 between the hours of 1615hrs and 1745hrs officers, with assistance from traffic officer conducted speed checks on WESTACOTT ROAD, WHIDDON VALLEY. 45 vehicles were seen to be exceeding the 30mph speed limit (31 of those vehicles were between 30-34mph, 12 vehicles were between 35-39mph, 1 vehicle was between 40-44mph and 1 vehicle was between 45-50mph). As a result of this, 6 vehicles were stopped, 1 OSCO was issued for the fastest speed of the day which was 49mph, 5 drivers were given strong words of advice and 3 breath samples were taken, all proving negative.

 

Update: 23 May 2019 - Mini Motos

A male was seen by officers riding a scrambler type bike wearing no helmet. He was stopped and found to have no licence and was above the drink drive limit and was arrested.

 

Update: 23 May 2019 - Speeding in the area.

Due to significant increase in summer call demand there has been little time to conduct High Vizibility speed checks and enforcement at locations of concern. This will be increased once the demand reduces after the summer and more time can be spent focusing on areas where concerns are raised by residents and community members.

Issue dated: 18/07/2018

Action dated: 23/05/2019

Reducing acquisitive crime in the Town Centre

During March 2019 unfortunately there was a 10% increase in shoplifting in the Barnstaple compared to March 2018.

We continue to work closely with store detectives to improve their awareness and education.

 

Issue dated: 30/11/2018

Action dated: 30/11/2018

Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation

We have engaged with schools throughout the  North Devon area to implement "Kayleigh’s Love Story", which is a project designed to facilitate discussion amongst young people, to combat sexual offences against them.

We have worked alongside various other agencies to visit Secondary schools in the local area and have helped to deliver classroom presentations on this subject, and give the young people an important insight into this seemingly increasing crime.

The neighbourhood beat teams have been regularly out and about on patrol in the town centre area to engage with all ages of young people to identify any potential victims that may not be attending school.

Further information on  "Kayleigh’s Love Story", can be found on the internet.

 

 

Issue dated: 30/11/2018

Action dated: 30/11/2018

Combating ASB and low level criminality in Barnstaple Town Centre

A new multi-agency approach working alongside the Community Safety Partnership, North Devon District Council,  Rough Sleepers Outreach Teams and Housing is being undertaken by the Barnstaple Neighbourhood Beat Team to address the resultant issues developing from the increasing number of homeless and rough sleepers in the town centre.

This will require a multi-agency approach to address assisting those willing to engage with support services and seek accommodation in an attempt to prevent any subsequent Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) related issues such as street drinking, begging and drug dealing. It is evident that this is clearly a community issue and the role of the Police will be primarily dealing robustly with those committing criminality and breaching the PSPO.

Both police officers/PCSO’s and other partner agencies will be conducting patrols throughout the town.

The aim of these patrols will be to engage with those who are homeless or street drinking, offering support/advice as well as enforcing the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO)

A number of Community Protection Notice - CPN warning letters have been issued for ASB within the town centre. 

 We have a multi agency approach working alongside agencies such as The Freedom Centre, ENCOMPASS, and NDDC. 

Over the past 3 months both police and officers from NDDC have carried out regular foot patrols both in the morning and afternoon within the town centre where they have engaged with street drinkers, those who are homeless, and members of the public.

 

Issue dated: 30/11/2018

Action dated: 30/11/2018

Street Crime Within Bishops Tawton, Landkey, Swimbridge & Whiddon Valley

Last Update April.

LocationTypeOutcome
A377 Anti-social behaviour
Bakery Way Drugs Under investigation
Bakery Way Drugs Under investigation
Castle Park Road Other crime Under investigation
Clement'S Lane Anti-social behaviour
Clement'S Lane Violence and sexual offences Under investigation
East Park Road Anti-social behaviour
Hooda Close Violence and sexual offences Under investigation
Lane End Park Anti-social behaviour
Littlefield Close Violence and sexual offences Formal action is not in the public interest
Manor Court Burglary Under investigation
Parking Area Other theft Under investigation
Parking Area Violence and sexual offences Under investigation
Peards Down Close Other crime Under investigation
Russel Close Violence and sexual offences Under investigation
Sloe Lane Violence and sexual offences Unable to prosecute suspect
Swallow Close Other theft Investigation complete; no suspect identified
Venlock Close Violence and sexual offences Under investigation
Walnut Way Anti-social behaviour
Walnut Way Criminal damage and arson Unable to prosecute suspect
Woolbarn Lawn Violence and sexual offences Under investigation