Thursday's update from Southport Police Station

Good morning from Southport police station, with a round up of Neighbourhood Policing Team activity from Wednesday 24th January.

On Tuesday evening, two of our neighbourhood Police Officers from Team 2 had been requested to assist with crime scene management in Childwall on Wednesday, but as it happened, the crime scene was closed, they were not required and were able to continue their duties in Southport. Team 3 officers started the day shift, with Team 2 taking the late shift.

Today, I’ve divided the activity up into the areas that it took place in. As background to this, the area that the North Sefton Neighbourhood Policing Team covers, from Southport police station, extends from the border with Lancashire in the north at Banks, to Hightown and Lunt in the south and from Kew roundabout area to the coastline.

SOUTHPORT
In Southport town centre we had Neighbourhood Police Officers and PCSO’s on foot patrol, while conducting enquiries into some recent incidents and making arrest attempts. From local knowledge, PCSO’s were able to identify some youths responsible for low value theft and anti-social behaviour (ASB) around the seafront area. The value of the items stolen was not sufficient to support a prosecution but the youths have been involved in repeat incidents of ASB, so it did require some action taking. The youths parents were visited at home with banning letters for the businesses involved. These are recorded in case of further issues with the same youths and to show the steps taken to address the behaviour at this time. This means, should the same youths cause further issues, that the response will be escalated.
Constables 6352 and 8441 obtained statements regarding criminal damage and theft at the Asda store on Derby Road.

Back in the police station, Constable 1440 was tied up for sometime with case file paperwork for two incidents of theft that took place in the town centre previously and Constable 6352 completed a warrant application for a future search of a premises.

Later in the evening, Neighbourhood Police Officers responded to a report of a man causing a nuisance outside take away on Neville St. After trying to reason with the man, he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. When searched the man was found to be in possession of a Stanley knife, so he was further arrested for possession of a bladed article. Due to the possession of the knife, a Serious Violence Prevention Order (SVRO) application was made to be added to the case file.

An SVRO is a civil order made in respect of an offender aged 18 or over who is convicted of an offence involving a bladed article or offensive weapon. The order provides the police with the power to search a person subject to an SVRO to ascertain if they have a bladed article or offensive weapon with them. It allows the police to detain the person for the purpose of carrying out that search, provided that person is in a public place. The order also provides police with the power to seize items they reasonably believe to be bladed articles or offensive weapons.
BIRKDALE

PCSO 0038 was out on foot patrol in Birkdale Village and made a return visit to Bedford Park, where he found three more large empty cannisters of nitrous oxide in bushes, nearby one of the entrances to the park. These were safely disposed of.
AINSDALE

Ainsdale dedicated Constable 5018 continued the ongoing organising of the Participatory Event for Ainsdale to be held in February. Con 5018 also held a meeting to discuss an attempt to emulate the success of the Mini Police, currently based at Norwood Primary School in Southport, and see if that can be extended to operate in Ainsdale as well.
Later on Constable 5018 and PCSO 0272 held a Youth Q&A session at Impact Youth Club in Ainsdale. Nineteen young people who were present asked questions to the two officers, who were able to interact with the young people, speaking with them about various issues and explaining explain our role as Neighbourhood Officers. Con 5018 commented, “We had lots of really good questions fired at us – lots of laughs and banter”.
Building relationships between young people and the police in this manner can make a huge impact and we have even seen young people join the Police Cadets and be promoted into supervisory roles in Merseyside Police over the years, from this kind of community engagement.
FORMBY
In Formby Neighbourhood Constable 5301 was out on foot patrol conducting door to door/CCTV enquiries regarding a report of a suspicious man who had been knocking on doors. Con 6352 responded to a report of intruders at Formby recycling centre.
Every day and every week can be different in policing. Some days may seem ‘quieter’ than others but by being out in our communities for most of our time, even on those less busy days, we obtain bits of information that we can then add to the intelligence picture, which often helps build up into information that can be acted upon at a later date. Neighbourhood Police Officers and PCSO’s act as the ‘eyes and ears’ of Merseyside Police in our communities, so please come and speak to us when you see us out and about in your area.
Update from Thursday’s activity tomorrow morning.