Dear Sir,
Community groups in Newton Aycliffe are concerned to hear that our Police Neighbourhood beat team are considering reducing the number of PACT meetings in the Great Aycliffe area.
Some ideas aired are to have a single meeting or to engage in an online exercise.
Readers will recall that until recently our police station was taken out of Newton Aycliffe and located on Aycliffe Business Park where a substantial number of Newtonians found it too difficult to find and access.
Following a campaign by ACORN Residents, Great Aycliffe Residents Association and the Newton News our Police Commissioner Ron Hogg was persuaded to return our police station to a more accessible town centre location.
I feel strongly that a high police visibility is desirable in the community to allay fear of crime and also as a deterrent to criminality, furthermore, much of the successful activity reported by police is as a result of intelligence supplied by the community.
It is understandable that under current financial restraints the police service is trying to balance the books by reducing the service to the public, however, the precept for policing continues to rise annually whilst the chances of seeing a policeman on the beat becomes less each year.
With regard to POLICE & COMMUNITY TOGETHER the important word is TOGETHER information should flow in both directions which is where pact meetings work.
Police statistics seem to indicate that crime and anti-social behaviour continue to fall but I get the impression that this view is not reflected in the community. Police statistics have been discredited across the country in recent years and reported crime relies on the individual policeman to credit a situation as such.
Representatives from ACORN, Horndale, Wasps, Lindon Place and Ladra, together with Neighbourhood Watch coordinators are urging consultation before any major changes are approved.
Ken Robson