Operation Orange 3 ran last weekend and will be running every weekend over the summer here is a summary of what happened.

Friday 18th July 2008 was the last day of the current school year, traditionally there is an increase in anti social behaviour and drink related occurrences. In order to reduce the number of occurrences and provide reassurance to the community 20 NPU Police Officers, Police Community Support Officers and Special Constables took to the streets of Runcorn.

Staff targeted off licences offering advice to staff on the Challenge 21 scheme and ArcAngel. Pre -Operation leaflets had already been delivered under the ArcAngel and Consumer Protection Offwatch partnership.

A member of staff was deployed to the Halton borough Council CCTV room to monitor the cameras in the hot spot areas. He identified gatherings of youths and deployed patrols accordingly.

Officers were dedicated to repeat locations of ASB. These included Grangeway, Runcorn Hill & Phoenix Park.

Officers were equipped with hand held metal detectors to check for concealed weapons.

PCSO's were deployed to Rock Park, a joint venture between the Police, Cheshire Fire & Rescue and youths services for the 'Friday night in the Park event'

As a result of the operation:

• 3 persons were arrested for Possession of an offensive weapon (knuckle duster) as a result of the metal detectors.
• Two adults arrested for shop lifting at Grangeway, Runcorn.
• 1 person was issued a fixed penalty notice for £80 having been seen supplying alcohol to persons under 18.
• 92 vessels of alcohol, beer, wine, cider and spirits were seized during the night.
• On the night there was a reduction in youth related disorder with only 6 incidents being reported, this figure being lower than a normal Friday evening.

The operation is ongoing throughout the summer.

Also over the weekend the first Runcorn 'Frenzy-Nightclub experience' took place at Brookvale Recreation Centre.

Quest Appointments

Quest appointments continue to be high but not quite so high as last month, 185 appointments were serviced during the month. There was a noticeable fall off of appointment after the tragic events of Sunday the 15th of June.

Performance

After a couple of months of performance which has not reached the targets, the NPU has bounced back and has exceeded the detection rate set. This is despite the tragic deaths of Amy and Owen Philbin and their father in North Wales which had a considerable impact on Runcorn NPU. The management of an evacuation and the international press interest in both the deaths and the subsequent funerals had an effect on Neighbourhood Policing for a number of days.

Neighbourhood Crime Team

The Neighbourhood Crime Team have contributed to the performance improvement this month with a notable success in arresting an offender for the series of burglaries at sheltered accommodation. Since this arrest the series of crime has stopped.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary inspection

The initial feedback from the HMIC was positive, suggesting that the Constabulary had made considerable moves towards embedding Neighbourhood Policing and Citizen Focus in our daily business. A number of members of staff from Runcorn were involved in focus groups with the Inspection team and their contribution was commented on positively. The hard work carried out by the NPU and Neil Drum who was the liaison officer for the Northern Area has put us in a very strong position to take us forward into what I describe as 'Neighbourhood phase 2'- this is the long term development of our engagement plans and the many projects that the NPU are involved in.

Thefts from the Elderly and sneak in burglaries

As mentioned above the series of crimes against the elderly seems to have stopped.

There have been a couple of incidents recently where offenders have sneaked in through insecure front doors whilst the occupiers have been in the back garden and stolen car keys and other property, please pass on the following messages:

• DO NOT leave house and car keys on view. Be aware of the Hook and Cane type burglars.
• DO NOT leave garden tools and ladders out for burglars to use to force entry to your home.
• DO lock all doors and windows of your home even if you are leaving for a short time or even sitting in the garden.
• Please also ensure that all valuables are taken from your car when you park up.

If anyone would like Crime Prevention advice please contact Phil Buckley on 01244 613971.

Nuisance motorcycles

The number of calls with regards to nuisance use of motorcycles in Runcorn has dropped dramatically in comparison with June 2007.

In the last month there have been 48 calls regarding such activity compared with 101 last year for the same period. Operation Granite 2 is the NPU's operation to target the use of such vehicles anti-socially. This operation started at the beginning of April resulting in 17 motorcycles being seized since it started, with 10 of these being seized in June. The operation appears to be having a fantastic impact on the anti-social use of motorcycles.

Current Priority Areas

1. Parking issues in Preston Brook.
2. Anti-Social behaviour by youths in the Halton Lodge area.
3. Youth Nuisance in the Grangeway area.

Proactive Operations

Sergeant Andy Delooze continues to run our proactive warrants operations, the NPU to date has executed 30 search warrants since January this year, the majority of these have been for drugs based on community intelligence and all have had a positive result.

Community Action Meetings

Runcorn Central

• Monday 11th August 2008, 7pm @ Palace Fields Community Centre, The Uplands
• Monday 22nd September 2008, 6pm @ Brookvale Children's Centre, Woodhatch Rd
• Monday 15th December 2008, 7pm @ Hallwood Park School, Hallwood Park Avenue

Runcorn West

• Thursday 17th July 2008, 7pm @ Runcorn Town Hall

Runcorn East

• Wednesday 17th September 2008, 7pm @ Phoenix Park, Castlefields Avenue East

'Policing-Have your say' (Forum)

• Wednesday 8th October 2008, 7pm @ Grangeway Community Centre, Runcorn
• Wednesday 28th January 2009, 7pm @ Kingsway Learning centre, Widnes

Contact

In an emergency, always contact 999

For general enquiries or to report a crime or incident dial 0845 458 0000

For Crimestoppers ring 0800 555 111

For the Runcorn NPU ring 0845 458 6381 or e-mail
Runcorn.cat@cheshire.pnn.police.uk

To contact myself ring 01244 613912 or e-mail Richard.hill@cheshire.pnn.police.uk

Richard Hill, Runcorn Neighbourhood Policing Unit Inspector.

Operation Granite 2 has been running for 8 weeks in Runcorn, during this time the staff from the NPU have seized 17 motorcycles and issued a number of Section 59 notices to those using vehicles in an anti-social manner.

The hard work by the PCSO's and PC's has seen a massive reduction in the number of incidents reported to Runcorn involving nuisance motorcyles.

If you see anyone riding a motorcycle anti-socially contact us, if you know who was riding it and where they are keeping it tell us, we seize any bikes we have evidence are being used in such a manner.

Contact:

In an emergency, always contact 999

For general enquiries or to report a crime or incident dial 0845 458 0000

For Crimestoppers ring 0800 555 111

For the Runcorn NPU ring 0845 458 6381 or e-mail Runcorn.cat@cheshire.pnn.police.uk

Quest Appointments

Runcorn NPU have dealt with 207 appointments in the last month which has ensured that those contacting the police to report a crime or incident which does not require an immediate response have been dealt with within 48 hours. This is a considerable improvement on the situation before the Quest appointment system was introduced.

Performance

Overall Crime in Runcorn is lower than the targets set, as is Criminal Damage and vehicle crime. The performance regarding Criminal Damage has been assisted by Phil Done, a CSI who is concentrating solely on this offence and by follow up visits from PCSO's.

Neighbourhood Crime Team

The Neighbourhood Crime Team has been running for a month with some notable successes which has included the arrest of a local prolific vehicle thief. DS Sharon Case and DS Dave Hutcheon lead this team who concentrate on burglaries, vehicle theft and assaults.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary inspection

The HMIC visit Cheshire starting the 2nd of June, they are focusing on Neighbourhood Policing and Citizen Focus, they will be speaking to officers and members of the public in the county to assess if Neighbourhood Policing is embedded in the core business of the force and to assess how we are improving with regards to Citizen Focus.

ArcAngel

Myself and Paula Davies spent a Friday afternoon and evening in the door way of ASDA at Runcorn promoting the ArcAngel message, using their sales figures we were able to target our activity when it would have the greatest impact.

We handed out 2250 leaflets to customers highlighting the issue of adults purchasing alcohol for youngsters and the situations that young people can find themselves in when they are drunk. The presentation was very well received and will continue during the summer at various locations around Runcorn.

National Tackling Drugs Week

National Tackling Drugs Week took place two weeks ago, it involved a series of multi agency initiatives including a low loader with a crushed car highlighting the powers we have to seize vehicles used in or purchased with the proceeds of crime.

We also sent out reassurance and advice using some Bluetooth technology which the local partnership have purchased, whereby active phones could be sent messages.

The week culminated in two warrants being executed in Murdishaw, Runcorn which resulted in the recover of some suspected drugs, other offences relating to abstracting electricity and theft of gas were also discovered.

Thefts from the Elderly

There has been an increase recently in the theft of money from elderly people within sheltered accommodation, an article has been in the local papers in the last week but if you know of any elderly people please reassure them and also encourage them to keep their valuables locked away. If anyone would like Crime Prevention advice please contact Phil Buckley on 01244 61971.

Nuisance Motorcycles/mini motos

There has been a general increase in calls regarding nuisance motorcycles, the NPU is running Operation Granite 2 to target those who use motorcycles illegally or in a way that causes annoyance. Last month 6 motor cycles were seized for no insurance and numerous people were warned for using vehicles anti-socially.

This operation will continue all summer, at times we will be using our off road motor cycles and the aeroplane.

Current Priority Areas

1. Mini Motos causing a nuisance in the Haddocks Wood area.
2. Anti Social behaviour by youths in the Halton Lodge area.
3. Youth Nuisance in the Grangeway area.

Community Activities

Members of staff from the NPU have been involved in a number of Neighbourhood days recently during which a subway on Windmill Hill and one on Castlefields were repainted covering graffiti. Also on Halton Lodge there was a Neighbourhood Clean up where all the partners and local residents including youngsters tidied the area up.

Some staff have also been helping with the Halton's Got Talent contest which is running as part of the Borough's support to Liverpool's year of Culture.

Contact

In an emergency, always contact 999

For general enquiries or to report a crime or incident dial 0845 458 0000

For Crimestoppers ring 0800 555 111

For the Runcorn NPU ring 0845 458 6381 or e-mail Runcorn.cat@cheshire.pnn.police.uk

The Quest appointment system has been running for a little over a month now, we are beginning to see a positive effect both in the time it is taking for us to make contact with the public and also a gradual reduction of other tasks as we are dealing with the issues quicker.

The issues at Grangeway are still evident, there have been a number of meetings with residents and the young people to attempt to resolve the problems. The community wants to improve the problem by working together with all the agencies. This is the first step to a 'Give us Back our Neighbourhood' Campaign The Castlefields and Windmill Hill Neighbourhood Management Board also want to be part of this campaign.

Another problem area in the couple of weeks has been the Ridgeway, Murdishaw where there has been an escalation of anti-social behaviour.

There have been a number of successes in the last month including the successful application for an Anti Social Behaviour Order. Also this month the NPU have found another Cannabis Farm at Walsingham Drive, Sandymoor, the premises had been rented out and contained 750 cannabis plants. One male was charged with cultivating cannabis.

The NPU now has identified PC's covering specific areas working with the local PCSO's. This is the first step to having PC's who are Beat Managers dealing with local issues. I will publish the list in the next week.

If you want to contact me or my team and don’t know how to you can ring 0845 458 6381and leave a message for us on our answer machine and someone should contact you within 48 hours, or send us e-mail at Runcorn.cat@cheshire.pnn.police.uk

I have had a busy day today, I arrived at work about 7.15 am. I started to check what had happened yesterday.

Yesterday was fairly busy, we did not have many anti social behaviour incidents but did have a number of incidents around the Murdishaw area where young lads were riding a motor bike around causing a nuisance.

This has been an issue for the last couple of nights, the local PCSO Moira McLaughlin is now looking to find this bike and then hopefully seize it. If you know who is riding it give us a call on the number below.

One of the Investigation Unit went to the Custody Suite at Manor Park to deal with a young man who had been arrested the night before for criminal damage.

I then went to the daily video briefing with my colleagues around the area and discussed what ASB had occurred in the last 24 hours and what daily appointments we had to service.

The briefing finished and I was making some note in the briefing room when Mike Rimmer came and told me that he thought we had a cannabis factory in a house on Sandymoor-not somewhere you would expect to find one!

We went to the Magistrates Court and got a search warrant to search the premises then we went down to the address, forced entry and found all the rooms full of cannabis plants at various stages of growth. The young man at the address jumped out of a first floor window and ran off. He was found about half an hour later running away on Manor Park. We used the North Wales Helicopter to help us search for the male.

We organised that Scottish Power came to make the power safe at the premises as the meter had been bypassed- they were not paying for the electricity they were using to grow the plants.

Our Crime Scene Investigators arrived and I left as I had the Partnership Tasking and Co-ordination meeting which is where the members of the Safer Halton Partnership discuss what issues they have and how as a team they can be addressed. This meeting lasted about 2 hours and then I went back to Sandymoor where a skip had been delivered and we cleared the house of all the pots and soil. The cannabis plants were all taken back to Runcorn Police Station, they will later be sent to be burnt.

I then went home and on the way had a phone call to tell me that an application we had made at court for an Anti Social Behaviour Order against a local resident had been successful.

I got home about 6.15pm.

Hi I am Rachel Campbell, one the Parks and Gardens PCSOs. I spend much of my time cycling around the open spaces in Runcorn and dealing with issues in the Parks. I hold surgeries 4 days a week around the various parks where people can drop in an discuss any problems they have.

Here are the times and days where you will find me until October.

• Monday 2pm to 3pm @ Wigg Island Visitor Centre
• Tuesday 2pm to 3pm @ Rock Park Pavilion
• Wednesday 2pm to 3pm @ Runcorn Hill Visitor Centre
• Thursday 2pm to 3pm @ Phoenix Park Visitor Centre

Other than running surgeries my day can be really varied as you can see from what I did yesterday.

I arrived for work at 2pm, I briefed myself as to what was happening in the Parks and Gardens and the surrounding areas then I went to Phoenix Park and spoke to the staff there about a problem they have been having with a particular individual being anti-social. I had a ride around on my bike along the canal to Windmill Hill and then when I was on my way back towards Halton Lea I stopped a man on a mini moto riding in Phoenix Park.

Mini motos or small motorbikes cause massive nuisance in the parks as well as being dangerous to park users. If we stop someone riding a mini moto we seize them as they cannot have insurance. Our off road motorbikes carry out operations around the open spaces regularly and catch people using motor bikes and mini motos. On this occasion the man riding the mini moto was arrested and his bike seized by a colleague from Roads Policing.

At 6.30pm I had my refs at Runcorn Police station then went out again about 7.20pm with a colleague targeting the hotspots around the town for youth nuisance. We went to Murdishaw to the report of some kids who had thrown eggs at someones house and run off and then later went to Grangeway where there was a report of a large group of youths causing problems. We spoke to the group and moved them on from where they had been gathering.

About 10pm we went back to the police station and went off duty.

If you have an emergency call 999.

If you have any local issues around any of the Parks and Gardens in Runcorn you can ring the CAT team phone and leave me a message on 0845 458 6381 or e-mail runcorn.cat@cheshire.pnn.police.uk

Hi I am Sergeant Chris Byrne I am the Neighbourhood Policing Unit Sergeant for Runcorn East which includes Castlefields, Windmill Hill, Murdishaw, Sandymoor and Daresbury.

Yesterday I was on days. I arrived for work about 7.35am and began to prepare my briefing for the staff-reviewing what had happened overnight. At 8am I briefed my staff and then at 8.45am went to the briefing room with the Inspector and Detective Chief Inspector to take part in the daily video briefing.

I then went back to my office and spoke to Lynn Parr the Castlefields PCSOs about one of her residents and also the recent theft of two boilers from newly built houses and how it could be prevented from happening again working with the builders and their security.

I then spent about an hour allocating Atlas tasks to my staff-Atlas is our records management system on which we manage our workload of crime and non crime related incidents. It is also our custody system and staff prepare prosecution files electronically using it. It is the main computer system that the NPU use.

During the morning I also had various people come to discuss issues that they had either on their beat or with individual cases they were dealing with. I gave them all advice and guidance about how they should deal with their issues.

I also discussed with one of my officers the new appointments system that is being introduced next Monday which should allow us to give an improved quality of service to the members of the public who make calls for us to deal with non urgent issues. Basically rather than people not knowing when we will initially contact them we will offer them an appointment to discuss their issue either at the police station or at their address, they will know when we should be in contact with them.

Just before lunch I had a discussion with Richard Hill and one of the other Sergeants about a problem we have been having around the Grangeway area and how we can deal with the issue of a large number of young people that are gathering there in the evening.

About 1.30pm I had some lunch for half an hour then carried on with clerical and Atlas management, I did not get the chance to go out on patrol.

During the afternoon I also spoke to a colleague who was investigating a recent fatal collision to see if there were any issues for the families of those involved or if it would have any impact on the local community.

I carried on working on Atlas until just before I went home at 5pm. As you can see a lot of my time when I am on days is spent in the office. When on lates I am able to get out more with the staff. I am passionate about people being safe and feeling safe and working towards this with all my staff as a big team.

If you want to contact me or my team and don’t know how to you can ring 0845 458 6381 and leave a message for us on our answer machine and someone should contact you within 48 hours, or send us e-mail at Runcorn.cat@cheshire.pnn.police.uk.

Hi my name is Richard Hill and I am the Inspector in charge of the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPU) in Runcorn Cheshire, over the next fortnight through this blog my team intends to give you an insight into the daily working of a neighbourhood policing unit. Throughout the fortnight you will get to find out about some of the work the Cops and PCSO’s who work at Runcorn get involved and I hope you will get a real understanding of a day in the life of our neighbourhood unit.

The unit here at Runcorn is headed up by myself and the unit works a 3 week shift pattern. There are 5 Sergeants in charge of each shift, with 23 police constables and 20 community support officers (PCSO’s) who are divided up between the different shift periods.

Runcorn is split into 3 geographical areas which each as I am sure you are aware have a Community Action Team (CAT), these are your local officers that you may have met on the beat in your community.

If you haven't met them, then let me introduce them.

Sergeant Chris Byrne heads up the what we call the Runcorn East CAT which covers Castlefields, Windmill Hill, Daresbury and Preston Brook.

Sergeant Mike Rimmer is in Runcorn West which covers Weston, Runcorn Old Town, the Grange and Halton Lodge.

Sergeant Dave Bamber is in central Runcorn which covers Palace Fields, Hallwood Park, Halton Brook and Brookvale.

There are 2 other Sergeants who have specific responsibility for other teams Andy Delooze has responsibility for a team of officers who know locally as the‘Blue Lamp’ who are responsible for reassuring the public in specific areas in Runcorn.

Last but certainly not least, Detective Sergeant David Hutcheon, who has responsibility for the investigative team. This team progress investigations into crimes that happen in your community such as burglary and theft.

If you want to contact me or my team and don’t know how to you can ring 0845 458 6381 and leave a message for us on our answer machine and someone should contact you within 48 hours, or send us e-mail at runcorn.cat@cheshire.pnn.police.uk.