NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING

By Sergeant Andy Boyd

Newton Aycliffe beat team have been busy again in October dealing with an array of incidents, engagement events, school visits and participating in multi-agency projects across the town. Leading up to Christmas, there is a drive to reduce the demand around shoplifting by targeting repeat offenders and dealing with all reported incidents promptly and robustly. In October, there were 30 reported shoplifting crimes with a solved rate of 67%. There were a small number of burglaries across the town, however most of these were in either unoccupied houses, or in outbuildings or sheds/garages. One of the few burglaries to actually be in an occupied house was solved very quickly, when acting on information from the community, the beat team at Newton Aycliffe arrested a number of youths and recovered some of the stolen property. One of these males later appeared at Durham Crown Court where he was sentenced to a 36 month prison sentence. An appeal was made by the beat team in relation to a TV stolen from this 82 year olds home address, and GESTAMP (based on the Aycliffe Business Park) stepped in very kindly to donate a new set, an amazing gesture. Anti-Social Behaviour continues to be a problem in certain areas of the town and there are several multi agency projects in the planning stages to address this, however, ASB is lower (YTD) than this time last year. We’ve been stepping up our foot patrols in hot spots, if you haven’t seen us, like our page on Facebook as we often map our routes (make suggestions on where we go next, please get involved).
We have again had to issue a £90 Fixed Penalty Notice in relation to the supply of alcohol to youths. Please stop doing this!! You are putting your kids in danger, not only due to the obvious health implications, but it also leaves them vulnerable to assault. This has got to stop and we will look to prosecute any adult found doing this.
The beat team have also been into a number of schools including Byerley Park Primary School on the 17th October. Jet and Ben were also in attendance where the pupils got to try on a uniform, have their fingerprints taken and speak around the topic of ‘stranger danger’. The team were requested by the pupils to arrest the head teacher to a chorus of “No more school!” If you would like a visit to your school or club, please get in touch with me at Newton Aycliffe Police Office.
We were also invited to a ‘Taste of Syria’ night held at the Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre on the 6th October. This was a great night raising money for the ‘Durham City of Sanctuary’ charity.
The Police and the Town Council (in conjunction with McDonalds and ROF59) are working on a rewards scheme for youths doing great things in the community. There are some really great things going on in the community, it’s time to celebrate them rather than dwelling on the negatives, after all it is just a small minority that spoil quality of life for other persons. Watch this space!
Finally, on behalf of us all at Newton Aycliffe Police Office I’d like to pay tribute to Syd Howarth who was a truly inspirational guy and will be sadly missed!!