A NUMBER of neighbourhood policing teams in South East Cornwall got out and about last week to spread the word about how they are supporting their local areas.

The neighbourhood policing teams in Liskeard, Torpoint, Saltash and Looe carried out a number of community engagement events in aid of Neighbourhood Policing Week 2024. 

Anti-social behaviour is one of the key priorities for neighbourhood teams across Torpoint, Looe, Saltash, and Liskeard, which prompted the team to hold a community event in Torpoint library in conjunction with Cornwall Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Caseworker, Kat James, to discuss issues within Torpoint. 

Torpoint Neighbourhood beat manager, Hayley Gething, said: “Torpoint neighbourhood policing team and Cornwall Council are continuously working together to target anti-social behaviour in Torpoint and the surrounding areas. 

“We conduct regular patrols of targeted areas to offer reassurance, and visit identified individuals to prevent any escalation of behaviour. 

“We are committed to making the local area a safe and peaceful place to live and will continue to work together to target anti-social behaviour.”

Over the remainder of the week and alongside their usual duties, Torpoint neighbourhood policing team visited local hotspots for anti-social behaviour to specifically target areas of concern and help safeguard the community.

In Looe, the neighbourhood policing team were joined by the Community Speed Watch Team to conduct speed checks at Widegates on the A387. The group is made up of volunteers from the community who give up their time to help report incidents of speeding to the police in an aim to cut down on road traffic accidents. Seventeen drivers were reported exceeding the 30 MPH speed limit; they were issued with guidance and advice, as well as their details logged.  

PCs Katie Hall and Pete Holland from Saltash neighbourhood policing team were joined by deputy mayor, Cllr Julia Peggs from Saltash Town Council at the community ‘Have Your Say’ meeting at the Community Kitchen, to meet with local members of the public and discuss any concerns they had relating to their area. PC Hall and PC Holland were on hand to answer queries and give advice to members of the community about any issues they were experiencing, as well as familiarise local people with their neighbourhood policing team.

In conjunction with Safer Cornwall, Liskeard neighbourhood policing team hosted a pop-up community event in Morrisons on January 25. This was an opportunity for shoppers to have a chat with officers and representatives from Safer Cornwall and raise any issues or concerns they had relating to their community.  

Inspector David Ratcliff said: “Community policing is not only for our neighbourhood policing team. The team work closely and collaboratively with our internal departments and our external partner agencies to deliver a response to what our communities are telling us. Last week, we arranged a number of events to give the communities in our sector the opportunity to not only meet the local neighbourhood policing teams and our partner agencies, but also to discuss their concerns in relation to the area that they reside.

“The engagement from the community has been excellent and the information we have received will now be collated and reviewed. Devon and Cornwall Police and partners will discuss the issues raised with a view of resolving them as efficiently and as timely as possible. The local venues that assisted with the events have been pivotal in making the Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action a success. I know that by working together with our communities and partners, the police will be able to address the likes of anti-social behaviour and serious crimes, such as the use of drugs, in our area effectively.”