Whitley / Church Thames Valley Police Police Local Neighbourhood

Come and meet your local Neighbourhood Policing Team to discuss any crime related issues or concerns you may have.

Come and meet your local Neighbourhood Policing Team to discuss any crime related issues or concerns you may have.

Come and meet your local Neighbourhood Policing Team to discuss any crime related issues or concerns you may have.

This officer is a Police Community Support Officer. While having no power of arrest, the officer can attend incidents, patrol and reassure, tackle ASB and parking issues, and in Thames Valley will be deployed to deliver our Crime Attendance policy of attending to provide follow up support and contact. They too are also responsible for tackling the concerns of the community.

This officer is a Constable and takes direction from the Sergeant and they work with the community and other agencies. They are also responsible for tackling those issues as identified by the local community.

The Sergeant is next in command and also assists the Inspector. In addition they provide leadership in the development and supervision of the Constables and PCSOs. They too work with the community and other agencies to ensure that the concerns of the community are dealt with by the Neighbourhood Team.

The Inspector is in command of the Neighbourhood Policing Team and is responsible for the overall policing of the neighbourhood. They lead, manage and co-ordinate the team and also work with the community and other agencies, in ensuring an appropriate and timely response to incidents and issues affecting the community.

This officer is a Police Support Community Officer. While having no power of arrest, the officer can attend incidents, patrol and reassure, tackle ASB and parking issues, and in Thames Valley will be deployed to deliver our Crime Attendance policy of attending to provide follow up support and contact. They too are also responsible for tackling the concern of the community.

The officer is a Police Community Support Officer. While having no power of arrest, the officer can attend incidents, patrol and reassure, tackle ASB and parking issues, and in Thames Valley will be deployed to deliver our Crime Attendance policy of attending to provide follow up support and contact. They too are also responsible for tackling the concerns of the community.

The officer is a Constable and takes direction from the Sergeant and they work with the community and other agencies. They are also responsible for tackling those issues as identified by the local community.

Speeding - You said that vehicles were speeding along Whitley Wood Road and Blandford Road.

Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) conducted speed enforcement operations with the Speed Indication Device and letter were sent ot the registgerd owners of the offending vehicles. Officers issued tickets whilst using the speed guns.

Begging - Northumberland Avenue - You said there were issues with people begging along Northumberland Avenue.

We conducted high visibilty patrols along the road and notified the council and housing. BT were contacted regarding removal of the telephone box which was being used by the beggers and any offences were dealt with robustly.

Illegal Use of Motor Bikes - You said people were using motobikes and mini motos illegally and causing anti social behaviour

We conducted high visibilty patrol in the key areas, deployed the 4 x 4 vehicle to catch offender off road, seized more that 15 bikes and working with council to take action against tenants causing the issues.

Parking Issues outside Schools - You said there were parking issues outside some of the school at drop off and pick up time.

We conducted high visibilty patrols, gave advice to numerous parents and fined in excess of 15 parents.

Harassment of residents

You Said …. A home owner was bullying and harassing a number of residents in the Whitley Wood area, causing one resident to sell her property due to this.

We Did …… As a neighbourhood team we collected the evidence and investigated the many reports made to TVP. We were able to prove that this homeowner had been having a massively negative impact on the lives of neighbours. Through the investigation we worked closely with Reading Borough Council and managed to get a Prosecution at court for three counts of harassment and are currently working with CPS to issue this owner an order to prevent this from happening to other residents in the future.

Exploitation of Vulnerable People

You said …. A number of vulnerable adults in the Whitley area have been taken advantage of by many individuals, where they would take over their properties, take their money, and use the address to take and deal drugs from and cause Anti Social Behaviour in the area.

We Did …. As a neighbourhood team we have been managing this through our Patrol Plan whereby we actively patrol these areas, visit the affected people and their addresses. We have worked closely with our partner Agencies which include Reading Borough Council, Housing Associations and Social Services to both support the vulnerable persons and to deter these offenders from attending the addresses. Through this approach the vulnerable are getting the help they need and we have seen a reduction in this activity from taking place.

Large amounts of intelligence gathered from community and partner agencies indicated a number of properties where drug dealing was taking place.

Misuse of Drugs warrants were executed which resulted in a large cannabis factory being located and a number of know drug dealers being convicted at court or still currently under investigation.

Working with Reading Borough Council (RBC) and various Housing Associations, various issues within a specific location were identified ranging from ASB to Cuckooing (dealer taking over the property of a vulnerable person)

The team carried various walks around the area with partner agencies in a joined up approach and spoke to a number of residents in the effected area along with surgeries carried out away from the area. Through these a number of offenders have been identified and the team are working with RBC to take legal action against these people to prevent them entering the area.

Reports of young people riding off road bikes on the roads with no crash helmets, insurance or MOT.

The team are currently in the process of educating the community on the importance of reporting these incidents and raising the awareness of the powers held by the police under the Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002

With the summer months we have had an increase in reports of Anti-Sociable behaviour (ASB), which includes gangs of young person’s causing an issue on Alleys ways in the Whitley area. With allegations of drugs being used, public order offences and scaring the residents of this area.

Through these reports we have increased our patrols in these area’s to help deter this sort of behaviour which is unacceptable, and are working with Affinity Housing and Reading Borough Council (RBC) to see if these alleyways can be improved, such as potentially getting lights put up and improving the access to these for the residents.

Working with Affinity Housing we have identified an address in the Staverton road area that is causing a major concern to being involved in Cuckooing. Where by the tenant is losing control of her address to a number of drug users and is causing the quality of life to the neighbours to suffer due to the behaviour of these people.

We are currently working on getting a Closure order on this address which will then allow us to help work with the tenant and put the necessary care plan in to support her

At this time we are having increasing issues with a number of young males appearing to be involved in Child Drug Exploitation (CDE), whereby they are believed to be used by local drug dealers to ‘run’ for them. As in deal class ‘a’ and ‘b’ drugs for them.

The neighbourhood team are working closely with our partner agencies including Social Services to help manage this situation and building up intelligence pictures not only around these young males but also the suppliers and the effect it is having on the wider community

Residents reported issues with persons riding motorbikes around the area in an anti-social manner.

The team are working closely with Reading Borough Council (RBC) to educate residents into what action can be taken by the police. We have seen a massive reduction in this issue for now but will continue our work in this area.

The team have had an increase in unacceptable behaviour in this area which we are currently dealing with. There have been a number of reports of adults having arguments in the street, which has had an adverse effect on the whole community.

There are criminal offences that are currently being investigated at this time, and on top of this a number of Community Protection Notice (CPN) warning letters have been given to the offenders in an effort to stop this from continuing. We are also working closely with the Housing Association, Reading Borough Council (RBC) and the local Councillor and will be having Street Briefing’s as well as planning a similar event for the Easter Holidays

Whitley has been suffering with an increase in residential burglaries and shed breaks since the start of the year which the team are tackling to get under control.

A number of arrests have been made in connection to this, and we are working closely with our CID colleagues on this matter. The team are available to offer crime prevention advise and are increasing our patrols in the affected areas. We do a number of Have Your Say events in the area, and are happy to speak to the Community on this matter.

A number of vulnerable individuals have been the subject of Cuckooing (The securing of a base in the homes of vulnerable people and force assistance by using violent or exploiting an addition to drugs)

the team have been working hard on issue and currently have three part Closer Order’s in place. This is to prevent the tenants of these address’s having their homes taken over by un-wanted guests and having a significant effect on their neighbours. By having these in effect we have had a number of arrests for breaching these orders and have also been able to get the help the vulnerable tenants need to try and prevent this behaviour from continuing. We are also working closely with RBC and the various housing associations and are looking at getting a number of injunctions against the main offenders to prevent them from entering any Social Housing Property that they are not the tenant of.