Afternoon update from Southport police station

Good afternoon from Team 1 of the Neighbourhood Policing Team at Southport Police Station.
Before the update on yesterday’s activity we are going to take time to tell you about our ‘Safer Schools Officers’, linked to the Southport Neighbourhood Team.

We have two Police Constables with dedicated ‘Safer Schools Officer’ roles. They divide the schools between themselves and cover each high school in Southport and Formby. Con 1075 uses Stanley and Meols Cop High schools as a base, while Con 1003 is generally based between Birkdale and Greenbank High Schools.
The primary purpose of the Safer Schools Team is working with the schools to keep young people safe. Every day Safer Schools Officers are interacting and engaging with the young people of Merseyside in a non-police related environment. They provide safeguarding and pastoral support, as well as personal, social and health education. Safer Schools Officers assist in early identification and support for victims and vulnerable individuals, working with schools and partners to improve outcomes for all.

Safer Schools officers are a visible and accessible presence in the school and local community, addressing behavioural concerns in both. They help to tackle truancy and instances of bullying, creating and maintaining positive relationships with the school and young people. This serves to provide reassurance and increasing the feeling of safety. Safer Schools Officers also support in the initial investigation of offences, particularly where safeguarding disclosures have been made. The role has proved vital in responding to some incidents involving young people of school age who have found themselves in situations where the police have been called. Neighbourhood Police Officers and PCSO’s work closely with the safer Schools Officers.

This week Safer Schools Officer Constable Andy Richie continued the ‘Unleash Your Drive Programme’ with students in Greenbank High. This programme is designed to build resilience and mental toughness using golf as a tool to develop these skills.

Back to yesterday’s Neighbourhood Policing activity.
Yesterday, we had Neighbourhood Police Officers and PCSO’s out on foot patrol across Southport town centre, Churchtown (See beat map), High Park, Kew and Birkdale. Whilst out on patrol they were making follow up reassurance visits to victims of crime and looking into issues raised by the victims. They conducted CCTV enquiries into reports of hate crime, criminal damage and theft and, from local knowledge, were able to identify the person responsible for one theft. The PCSO will now submit and ID statement so that the investigation into that theft can be progressed.

Neighbourhood Police Officers provided prisoner transport for a man arrested in the town centre by Response and Resolution Officers for racially aggravated public order. Response and Resolution Officers later also arrested a man for assault after an incident on London Street. Neighbourhood Constable 6352 conducted an interview into a dog bite incident.

Town centre dedicated officers visited Light For Life at Southport Housing on Eastbank Street, who are one agency that we work closely with who help provide housing for people who are homeless in Southport. If Neighbourhood officers come across anyone new on the streets in Southport, we will always direct them to Southport Housing, where they can get themselves on the system for housing support. We take a welfare approach to people we come across sleeping rough or begging on the streets however Sefton Council does have a prohibition of begging as part of a Public Space Protection Order, which we do have to enforce from time to time. This is very much a last resort.

Town centre Officers conducted a fraud awareness session at Nationwide bank, London Street, speaking with staff and customers about scams and offering prevention advice on the largest increasing crime type. Following this a bike marking event was staffed by PCSO’s in Cambridge Walks. These are designed to help reduce the risk of bikes being stolen and also help stolen bikes to be returned to their original owners. With thanks to the Bike Workshop and Make It Workshop, whose Dalek sneaked in to get tagged too!

We also had two Neighbourhood Officer away on a ‘Fast Roads’ training day, so that we have local staff trained to deal with incidents on roads such as the Formby bypass etc and that we are not totally reliant on Roads Policing Traffic Officers.
Thanks for the positive comments on these posts this week. Weekend work can be quite different sometimes. We will see what the weekend brings.