Police Community Support Officers

PCSO Sharon Hill joined joined a recent meeting to talk about her role in the community.
A Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) usually works as part of a neighbourhood policing team that includes police officers, community volunteers, special constables and people from other agencies. They provide a uniformed presence to bring reassurance and help to address anti-social behaviour and other factors that affect the quality of life in the neighbourhood.
They focus on what are collectively known as Signal Crimes.
These are actions or behaviours that can make residents feel less secure or less safe in their neighbourhood even if the crime does not directly affect them. They have a big impact on our perception of security and safety.
Examples include graffiti, dog fouling, litter, riding bicycles on footpaths and unacceptable behaviour, particularly involving young people.
PCSOs have the authority to issue warnings and fixed penalty fines for many of these offences.
In the case of repeated offences officers work closely with other agencies through the Multi Agency Problem Solving (MAPS) group to progressively limit the impact of such offenders.
Particularly with young offenders (10 plus), they work with parents to introduce geographical constraints and time limits that help to reduce the opportunity and impact of their actions. If offending persists and a number of Youth Referral orders are issued then over the course of time they can apply for an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO).
Sharon also talked about the value of Restorative Justice where offenders meet their victims or carry out remedial work such as cleaning graffiti. This helps to achieve closure for the victim and for the offenders to appreciate the impact of what they have done.
It is fair to say that some forum members were unhappy with both the scale of these offences in their neighbourhood or the low visibility of police officers and PCSOs.
Sharon stressed that if any of us have concerns then we should get in touch with our local Police and Communities Together team (PACT).
PACT meetings give you the chance to meet your neighbourhood policing team every month, have a say on how your neighbourhood is policed and monitor their performance. To find out where and when there will be a PACT meeting near you or to discuss a problem with a member of your local team the numbers to ring are:

Cleveleys and Thornton 01253 604981
Fleetwood 01253 604434
Garstang 01995 607869
Poulton le Fylde 01253 604460 

If you have access to the internet then visit www.lancashire.police.uk where you will find more information about your PACT team and its officers.
 
If you would like to find out more about the Wyre Pensioner forum please contact Paul Deacon at the Civic Centre on 887236 or give member Tony Ward, a call on 855966.