Your neighbourhood 

Katesgrove neighbourhood update

Update for July

Here is the latest update for the Katesgrove neighbourhood from Neighbourhood Specialist Officer PC Stacy Bancroft:

Tackling drug dealing and use is one of the priorities set by the residents of the Katesgrove neighbourhood. This was raised following concerns that needles and discarded deal bags have been found in the area.

One of the areas of concern was the bushes by the public toilets in Whitley Street. This area was cleared and the bushes removed a couple of months ago.  Since this has occurred the team has received no reports of discarded needles or associated paraphernalia in this area.

We have been providing high visibility patrols in areas that residents have highlighted to us as being used by persons to take drugs. Several people have been stopped and searched and, as a result of proactive patrols, a 47-year old man was found to be in possession of a class B drug.  

Auto crime is the second priority for the area. We have worked hard over the past year to prevent theft from vehicles and theft of vehicles by offering crime prevention advice and contacting owners that leave items on display in their vehicles.  

This work, coupled with high visibility patrols, has been successful as theft from vehicles continues to fall.  The crime figures taken from Thames Valley Police website show that theft from vehicles has fallen by 46 per cent for the period March to May 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

Anti-social behaviour is the third priority for the area, and coming into the spring and summer months we would have expected to see a rise in the number of incidents reported to police. However we have witnessed a fall of 73 per cent: There were 33 incidents between March to May 2009 compared to compared to 120 in the same period of 2008.

This is a remarkable reduction and I believe this has been as a result of listening to residents and doing targeted patrols in areas where anti-social behaviour has occurred at the appropriate times.

As these figures would suggest, there do not appear to be any major issues with anti-social behaviour in the area.  We have had a few reports of children running in and out of the shops causing a nuisance in the Brunel Retail Park.  The Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) have been working closely with the stores to help prevent further incidents and are currently trying to set up a business watch scheme in the area.  

In last month’s update I mentioned the slight increase in theft of bicycles in the Katesgrove area. This situation has now improved. In May, 11 bicycles were reported as stolen, but that figure had dropped to four in June. We are really pleased to see a reduction in the theft of bicycles and think this is due to the fact offenders have been brought to justice and because of crime prevention and cycle marking events held in Green Park by the Police Community Support Officers.

In relation to this, following a report of a bicycle being stolen in Basingstoke Road on June 5, a 48-year-old Reading man was arrested for going equipped and theft. He received a caution for the offence.

We are continuing to work with our partners and hold a monthly tasking meeting where the police, Reading Borough Council officials, street wardens, housing officers and anti-social behaviour officers meet to discuss any issues and concerns.  

As a result of this meeting, a joint home visit was conducted by the housing officer and police to address some of the issues raised. The Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) has been busy conducting surveys to identify the new Katesgrove Neighbourhood priorities. This has involved the distribution of approximately 1,500 surveys to local residents and businesses. Once the surveys have been returned the results will be analysed and the new priorities identified.

The NAG is also trying to set up a Schools Neighbourhood Action Group, so that local children can have a say about what happens in the area. Pupils from New Christ Church School will hold their own meeting about issues in the area and these can then be fed into the main NAG meeting.

The next Neighbourhood Action Group is being held on Thursday 9 July at New Christ Church School, Milman Road, at 7pm.

Also on Tuesday 14 July, members of the Neighbourhood Action Group and the neighbourhood team will conduct an Environmental Visual Audit (EVA) in partnership with Reading Borough Council and the local community around the Waterloo Rise and Elgar Road area. The EVA aims to identify issues that impact on the quality of life of local residents, such as graffiti and fly-tipping,

The next police surgery is on Wednesday 29 July between 12pm and 1pm at the Katesgrove Community Portakabin.

From 11 July the team will be holding regular street briefings. These enable residents to meet and talk to their neighbourhood teams about any issues or concerns they may have. By coming to your street, we hope to meet more of the residents and even if you don’t have any issues, this provides you with a great opportunity to get to know the local policing team.  

The first street briefing will be on Saturday 11 July at 6pm in Tippetts Rise. There will be another street briefing on Sunday 25 July at 6pm on the junction of Alpine Street and Edgehill Street. Further dates and locations will be published on the Thames Valley Police website.

Finally, PCSO Rod Holmes received a BCU Commander’s Commendation this month for his outstanding contribution to neighbourhood policing and in particular the Katesgrove neighbourhood.