Police continue crime crackdown in Southport

Good morning from the North Sefton Neighbourhood Team at Southport Police Station, on day 4 of ‘NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING WEEK’. 

Yesterday we had uniformed officers out on foot patrol in Cambridge and Meols wards, Kew and Dukes (Southport Town Centre) wards, as well as officers on mobile patrol in Formby and across the wider area.

Team 3 Sergeant Whincup and PCSO Edwardson were out on foot around Churchtown. During their time out in the community they visited Botanic Gardens regarding concerns of some ongoing anti-social behaviour and criminal damage caused by school children recently. We are in the process of identifying the children concerned and our Schools Officers will work with local schools and parents to resolve these issues. The officers then continued to assist with traffic management at Churchtown Primary School closing time, where several drivers needed to be given advice regarding the nature of their stopping/parking. 

Dedicated Police Constables and PCSO’s continued their normal foot patrols of Southport Town Centre. These patrols involve close contact with local businesses, often in connection with investigating shop theft offences. PCSO Newman also spent time in one store to engage with shoppers and continue our programme of raising awareness of the different types of fraud that criminals are using to steal sometimes very large amounts from unsuspecting victims. 

PCSO Janik Made CCTV enquiries at Tesco in Kew regarding some youth related anti-social behaviour, a reassurance visit to a victim of crime in Birkdale and then drove up to Formby to see the victims of a shed burglary, where four bikes were stolen. House to house and CCTV enquiries were made as part of the investigation into the burglary. This has become a regular aspect of the work of PCSO’s, in supporting victims of crime and assisting in investigations.

Following complaints made to Ainsdale Councillor Lynne Thompson, regarding speeding traffic, Ainsdale dedicated Officers conducted a ‘Speeedwatch’ operation on Mill Road and Shore Road. We run two different types of operations regarding concerns about speeding, which we know is not a popular aspect of our work, but nonetheless, we are responsible for policing the roads.

‘Speedwatch’ operations are to identify whether the concerns of residents are backed up by evidence of speeding traffic. The traffic is monitored by a PCSO or Constable (sometimes by a volunteer) trained in the use of the speed device in the same way as an enforcement day, but in these cases only warning letters are sent out to drivers to raise awareness of local residents concerns. Should the ‘Speedwatch’ confirm that there is a real issue with speeding on the road concerned, then we will arrange a future date to conduct a ‘Spotlight’ operation, where we will enforce the speed limit by issuing tickets. Last week one of these operations led to the arrest of a driver who was stopped for driving at 14mph over the speed limit and was then found to be a disqualified driver. 

On this occasion, 16 warning letters were sent out to drivers. So drivers should expect to see us there again in the future, issuing tickets. Please remember, requests for these roads policing operations come from local residents themselves, usually via their local Councillor. The operations we run are a response to requests from the local communities.

Later on in Ainsdale, our weekly Police Surgery for local residents was held at the new Community Police Station on Ainsdale Railway Platform.

Organised by our two dedicated School Offiicers, knife crime presentations continued at Formby High School yesterday. PC’s Jackson and Rowling and PCSO Edwardson continued this important programme. 

Today, we will see what Thursday brings. As usual, please come and speak to us when you see us out and about in your area. We will try to answer any questions you have.