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Sturminster Newton Rural Safer Neighbourhood Team Police Local Neighbourhood

Following the recent restructure of the Force, Sturminster Newton returns to the section having previously been part of the Shaftesbury area back in the 1980s. The North Dorset area covers 268 square miles and the four main towns of Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Blandford and Sturminster Newton.

Despite the continued and rapid expansion of the four main towns, with Gillingham alone doubling in size and set for further expansion, crime rates remain low and detection rates high.

We are fortunate to live in an area where the majority of the population, people of all ages, are law-abiding citizens and are willing to come forward with information so that we can support them in maintaining the area as one of the safest places to live in England. However, fear of crime remains much higher than the reality.

Further changes have taken place, providing more contact with the local community in order to look more closely at issues that residents decide are of concern to them.

One Section Commander (myself) covers the area, supported by station sergeants in place for each of the four towns and Safer Neighbourhood Teams. The teams include PCs community support officers (PCSOs), special constables and volunteers. This allows more direct contact with local residents looking at issues that they consider important within their communities. It also allows us to work directly with partner agencies such as district and town councils, the health service and housing associations to find solutions more quickly and efficiently.

In addition to the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, patrol officers are also based at all four main stations to provide further support and response to live incidents within the area.

The North Dorset area also hosts many important events including the county’s biggest event - the Great Dorset Steam Fair. Many other popular events take place through out the year including Shaftesbury Gold Hill Fair, Gillingham Music Festival, Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival, the Shaftesbury and Gillingham show and carnivals and music festivals at the Larmer Tree.

The Safer Neighbourhood Teams would like to hear from, you, members of the public about any issues you would like to discuss.

To make contact more flexible, each team has a mobile telephone. The numbers are available from the North Dorset Safer Neighbourhood Team pages on this website, just use the links on the right hand side of this page. Please contact us so that we (the police), and our partner agencies can work together to make North Dorset an even safer place to live.

Inspector 1919 Shawn Whitley

North Dorset Neighbourhood Inspector

Visit Police Neighbourhood Page 101

Map of the Sturminster Newton Rural Safer Neighbourhood Team Policing Area

Yellow markers represent Police Forces and the red markers represent neighbourhoods within Dorset Police.