Hello everyone. This is my first blog to the community of Newton Aycliffe as it is usually done by my Sergeant, Mark Edwards. Since the turn of the year we have had some significant changes to the staffing of our Neighbourhood Team here in Aycliffe and these have continued. As of 1st June, Mark Edwards has moved to Durham City to take up the role of Neighbourhood Inspector on a temporary basis. This move is likely to be mid to long term. We all wish Mark every success with this new role and are very grateful for all his hard work and dedication to serving the community of Newton Aycliffe.
This move means that our newest PC, Lyndon Towler, has quickly become Acting Sergeant to cover for Mark. In the first few months of 2017, we lost PCSOs Michael Crawford, Gavin Laycock and Steven Gill who all became police officers within the organisation. They are all competent, great guys and will take to their new role well but are obviously a loss to our team. We wish them well in their futures. Incidentally, Gavin and Mike are remaining within the south of the county and so you may see them around! We are actively recruiting PCSOs to replace the three we have lost and PCSO Matt Walls joined our team last month. We hope to have the other two vacancies filled within the coming months. Matt joins Daniela Jones and Christine O’Brien who continue to do a fantastic job! We have also lost PC Paul Rogers from the team and are actively seeking to fill his vacancy.
So, all in all, some major changes to the team but rest assured we are all still totally committed to delivering the best possible service to our community. During March and April we had a significant number of vans and other vehicles broken into where tools and other equipment were stolen. During May a male who had recently moved into the area was arrested and has been charged with numerous offences. We will provide an update in due course. We appreciate that these crimes have affected many hard working people in our community. I would like to appeal to all our residents to be vigilant and report anything suspicious to us. The arrest of this male was as a direct result of us receiving information from a community member to whom we are very grateful. We also identified several victims who had not reported thefts to us.
Again, I would appeal to everyone that if you are unfortunate to become a victim of crime, you report it to us straight away. We can then target our patrols more effectively. We also continue to experience anti-social behaviour across the town. This mainly consists of small fires and the riding of off-road bikes. With the help of the public the team has identified 9 young people responsible for setting some of the fires and they have spent time with their parents at our Community Fire and Police Station being educated in the dangers and criminal element of such behaviour. Fires have reduced but still continue to be a problem. Please, if you see fires being set, report it to us and if you can provide names of those responsible that would be much appreciated.
The off-road bike situation has eased a little following the identification of one of the main offenders. However, we still receive reports and are still actively seeking to identify those responsible. The local community responded well at the end of last year to our appeal to report incidents of off-road bikes, we need everyone to let us know who is riding them please! As a team , we will be involved in the coming months in various community events across the town and we through the GAMP Area Action Partnership we have acquired a gazebo for our events and will be handing out free pens, crayons, trolley coins etc. We would love to see as many of you as possible at these events so please come over when you see us and have a chat!
Take care for now and enjoy this lovely weather! A/Sgt Lyndon Towler Lyndon joined Durham Constabulary as a PC in 2009 and has always worked in Newton Aycliffe, as a 24/7 Response officer until joining our Neighbourhood team in April. He has an excellent knowledge of our local area and community and is looking forward to building on that in his new role. Lyndon hails from Hartlepool and is 33 years old. He recently passed his Sergeant exams and is already working hard leading the team of PCs and PCSO’s having taken over from Mark Edwards for the foreseeable future. PCSO Matt Walls Matt is 26 years of age and was born and raised here in Newton Aycliffe. He therefore already knows the local area and people well. Matt was initially a baker (although has told us he doesn’t bake cakes sadly!!), he joined Durham Constabulary two years ago as staff and became a PCSO earlier this year, joining the team at the end of April. Acting Chief Inspector 517 Sarah Honeyman South Durham Neighbourhoods and Safeguarding Command Email: sarah.honeyman@durham.pnn.police.uk Durham Police: ring 101 (or 999 in an emergency)
