Januarys Crime Update

[simon humphrey]

This hopefully is the start of a blog where i hope to keep you all up to date, although this is a bit belated.

Montpelier and St Werburghs has had a reduction in the number in dwelling burglaries which is really good news.
I will try and get some figures, but this is reliant on others.

GREAT NEWS the Street Crime Unit have recently conducted a warrant in St Andrews Road area, very close to the location of the telephone Kiosk, and this has been one of the most successful operations since the units inception a few years ago. A estimated £30,000 of crack cocaine has been recovered, and investigations are still ongoing. This is excellent news and may go some way to explaining why the telephone kiosk was being used so much, by drug users.

We are still requesting information around the use of this telephone kiosk, and welcome any information the public are willing to give. Sometimes operations will run for months if not longer, and patience is sometime a necessity, but as the results above show it is sometimes worth it.

Other good news is with the installation of a police petard camera at the top of Station road and putting pressure on Bristol City Council Cycle Path department to cut back foliage, appears to have stopped all robberies along the short footpath between Station Road and St Andrews Road, and the over all robberies for the area have been greatly reduced, however and unfortunately there is always a however, there were three robberies / snatches in and around a small area of (Richmond Road York Road and Upper Cheltenham Place), BUT since the New Year increased patrols and the arrest of a offenders for robbery seemed to have stopped this, with no robberies for that area being reported.

The last issue is that I am still on restricted duties and are at the behest of the NHS system, so progress is quite slow, however and there always is, I have been co-ordinating efforts mentioned above with probably the best two PCSO's in Bristol and together we have had a good start to the New Year. I look forward to returning to the streets of Montpelier and St Werburghs and finally getting to meet some of you.

Don't forget about the beat surgeries I will try and attend the majority of them, you can find them listed on the Avon and Somerset website.

[Des Bowring]

Thanks Simon that's grand.
Des
www.wildmonty.co.uk

[Dan Cook]

Simon, thank you so much - this is fantastic news, and all in such a short space of time since you transferred here. There's still too much crime in the area, but you and your team are really making a big difference to a lot of people.

[Suzanne]

Really interesting info - many thanks Simon!

[Robin McDowell]

Simon,

Can I add my congratulations on the St Andrews Road operation and the deterrence of crime on the Station Road footpath ? This does feel like a possible turning
point to Montpelier's self-destruct mission from one time Elegant Spa Village to Suburban Scuzz-Ville, and I hope BT have finally got the message too ! We shall see ...

But, can I also ask if your team was made aware of the major commotion around midnight on Sat 9 Feb on or around Richmond and St Andrews Roads at about the level of the Cadbury House ? A neighbour of mine (on Richmond Rd) had the window of their car parked just below the start of the station path on St Andrews Rd stoved through - with one of the highway barriers left over from the landscaping works,

Do you have evidence of any connection with the clientele leaving the CH pub that night ? If it was entirely unconnected (eg just a domestic erupting onto the street), it would be (a little) reassuring to know that.

However that may be, a number of us who made submissions to the CH licence review held in November have been very unhappy about the time it is taking the Licensing authority to formally publish the decisions of the review. This was the same story with the Old England extension application last July. Thanks to Cllr Rogers intervention we have at least seen the draft decision now (to close the pub garden to drinkers at 10 pm nightly, but not to smokers, and to require a few other noise prevention measures).

We are expecting the Police and Council to be visible and vigilant in monitoring the CH response to implementing the new licensing conditions. The big test will be the first of their regular late night extensions (which have not been curtailed) on St Patrick's Night and Easter bank holiday in March. Last year I rang the Ashley N'hood team asking if police or PCSOs could go on the beat to monitor the situation at appropriate times over such weekends, and got no response at all.

I think we really need to hear now that if the pub management tries to conduct its summer business as noisily as usual and subjects the neighbourhbood to more of the same outrageous behaviour, then they will be swiftly brought to book with firm action under the Licensing Acts and the criminal law, if need be.

[simon humphrey]

Hi Robin thanks for your comments, I am aware of the incident with the damage to the car, we have no evidence to who committed this crime, and therefore at this time there is no connection to the CH, however I am recieving several complaints about noise etc, and I intend to meet with the licencee and make them fully aware of the nature of the complaints (details withheld of course) and our intention to take enforcement action if required