Aycliffe Neighbourhood Police Team Sergeant Mark Edwards continues his regular blog on Aycliffe Today…
Hello again,
You know the saying ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’? Well it could almost be the teams tagline!
The police are, have been, and probably always will be in the unenviable position of facing criticism for whatever we do – that goes with the territory.
We have a Facebook page as I’m sure many of you will know. It’s not great but it was never intended to be a masterpiece of literary art.
The sole purpose of the page was – and is, to let people in the town know what their local officers were doing.
Afterall, I’m sure people would rather read about what the police have been up to than wondering just what service they receive from us.
It’s only natural I suppose but we face a lot of criticism on the page – we shouldn’t name and shame people, we’re sad for promoting ourselves ‘look at us’ style and sad for seeing convictions at court as good results, etc.
The latest comments on the page have accused us of arresting innocent people. I can’t go into the specifics of the particular case but I would like to give a brief summary of how we operate.
The police require suspicion to make an arrest. During an investigation we follow all leads, if there is enough suspicion to suggest someone is involved in a criminal offence then we have the power to arrest – and we do.
It may be that some time later that person or persons are released without charge. This is subject to a number of factors and will naturally impact upon the person arrested – after all, whilst this may be an everyday thing for ourselves, to someone outside of the Police finding themselves arrested can be a major thing that stays with them for a long time (there are an element out there however to whom this is an everyday thing and see Police custody as just another B and B!).
It is unfortunate when this occurs but is, nevertheless, part of the investigative process.
We get many reports from victims of crime who allege that person ‘A’ did it. There may be no evidence but in a lot of cases the victims expect arrests to be made.
I wonder how many people who have posted comments that we have arrested innocent people would fall into this category should they find themselves a victim of crime?
Ultimately, I and members of my team will not apologise for doing our job.
Anyhow, let’s see what information I can come up with…
The team were present at the Aycliffe v Sunderland game last Friday, which was a good night.
Many of the Officers who turned up had come in on their rest days so they could assist with Policing the event.
The residents of Aycliffe are quite fortunate in that they have individuals on their local team who regularly come in on days off to address issues.
In other news…
Lynne Michelle Pogson, 39, from Newton Aycliffe, was committed to prison for 56 days after appearing at Aycliffe magistrates Court in relation to breaching an anti-social behaviour order.
Bernard Alexander Mann, 25, from Aycliffe Village, appeared at court charged with possession of cannabis and was given a community order and ordered to pay costs of £85.
The team is committed to tackling ASB – in whatever forms it takes.
There is much work that goes on behind the scenes with our partner agencies. Many perpetrators of nuisance behaviour don’t realise that we can come at them via a range of options, such as through their tenancy agreements by working with other agencies.
This is something that we have done, what we are doing and what we will continue to do.
You may be aware of problem individuals living near yourselves, you may think that they think they’re untouchable, you may even think that nothing is been done about them – I’m sure there are many who feel this way or fit into the category described.
All I’ll say is there’s lots of stuff in the pipeline and lots of ASB merchants who are in our sights!
I have mentioned in a previous blog that the Shafto St. Mary’s area has seen a 53% reduction in ASB.
To put that into terms that might mean something to readers – there has been 60 less incidents of ASB reported as of the end of May this year when compared with the same period the year before.
Neighbourhood Watch has a significant part to play in these kind of results and we are always encouraging residents to join up with such a scheme. For details, please feel free to contact the team.
Quite a lengthy one this one so will call it a day there.
Take care,
Mark J Edwards
Aycliffe NPT Sergeant