Community Action Meeting #1
After a series of increasingly serious anti-social behaviour incidents, our community held a Community Action Meeting to discuss solutions.
We couldn’t livestream last night’s Community Action Group Meeting because of privacy concerns but I took minutes which I’ll write up today. Here are my immediate takeaways:
- Prosecution vs Prevention
- Arson update
- State of Police Funding
PROSECUTION VS PREVENTION
These are two distinct issues. Prosecutions start when preventative measures have failed. Prosecutions have to go through a process and they take a long time. Ideally though we can prevent incidents by coming up with ideas and working together. Then we can all feel safer in our community. To do this we need more meetings, to set up some action groups and to bring in experts to advise. We also need to find the reasons WHY antisocial behaviour is on the increase.
ARSON UPDATE
The investigation is ongoing but getting attention as the serious offence it is. It is an open investigation, the police still need evidence, and no arrests have been made so far.Please contact the police if you have any evidence or can provide a witness statement. Don’t assume the police know who it is or that someone else has told them everything you’ve seen. Do this via the website www.hampshire.police.uk and go to “Report”, or call 101, with reference number 44220053282. If you do not have internet access, you can use Rowner Community Trust facilities for free (not today, centre is closed due to weather).
STATE OF POLICE FUNDING
The police representatives gave an honest and sobering summary of their role, powers and limitations.
- They cannot act unless a crime is reported
- They cannot investigate without being provided evidence
Residents expressed the opinion that 101 is a bad crime reporting service. Residents said they have been waiting 15 minutes for an answer before giving up, or that call handlers were abrupt or unhelpful. The website crime reporting features feel equally inadequate. We can register complaints with the Police and Crime Commissioner.
www.hampshire-pcc.gov.uk/contact-us
http://www.hampshire.police.uk/…/tc/thanks-and-complaints/
Weeks prior to 7/2/22 the police were already investigating ASB in the area, which led to the dispersal order that was in effect. However, on the night of the fire the police were attending more serious incidents elsewhere (Portsmouth) and so there was no police presence in Gosport. Once the fire started, it became a priority and police attended.
So the police are constantly juggling resources in order to deal with the most dangerous incident currently in progress. They do not have the resources to deploy a presence ‘in case’ something happens somewhere.
It is worth considering the police have had their funding cut by 22% over the last 10 years and there are now a quarter fewer staff than 2010. In that time the demands placed on the police has increased, with higher populations and more online fraud.1,400 fewer police staff in Hampshire than in 2010 – http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/…/19274613.hampshire-see…/
In my opinion, the police on the street are doing a very difficult job very well, knowing full well that they are being paid less and don’t have the backup of as many colleagues as they need.
Also worth considering are the cuts to the Children’s Services, the Youth Service, Social Services, Children’s Mental Health, SureStart, Schools Sports Partnership, Education budgets … you get the idea.
Almost a billion-pound decline in funding for youth services – www.ymca.org.uk/outofservice
How cuts are affecting social care performance: what the data says – http://www.communitycare.co.uk/…/making-social-care…/
HCC cuts £80m from transport, children’s services and more – http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/…/19768586.hampshire-county…/
Government accused of ignoring the South East ‘levelling up’ – http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/…/19900695.new…/
Representatives of the council were present but did not speak to the meeting.
