Meeting documents

Deputy Commander Graham Hadley - TVP

Inspector Jonathan Chandler - TVP

The Chairman welcomed Deputy Commander Graham Hadley of the Thames Valley Police to the meeting and invited him to provide the Committee with an update on policing matters within the area.

Members had provided a number of questions in advance of the meeting to DC Hadley for a response.  The following main points were noted –

·         There were one or two off the county line drug dealers in the District however this was statistically less than national figures.  Enforcement had recently been undertaken with Operation Rowlock and a number of arrests had been made.  A large volume of drugs and weapons had been taken off the streets.

·         Additional funding provided by the government would include funding for the High Wycombe policing area.

·         The police budget had decreased over the last 8 years and there had been a reduction of approximately 12 officers over this period.  The Neighbourhood Police Officer numbers had remained the same. 

·         TVP were engaging with Wycombe District Council on a range of measures to increase capacity across the area.  The street wardens would be working with the Neighbourhood Police team to provide extra capacity in the area. 

·         There were around 20 Special Constables working in the Wycombe area.  It was noted that these were mainly seasonal due to student officers recruited from the University.  There had been a Thames Valley wide initiative to recruit more Special Constables.

·         Knife crime was up 16% nationally and in Wycombe it was up by 4%.  To tackle knife crime it was reported that there were rapid arrests, recovery of weapons, knife amnesty, stop and search and education programmes. 

·         Officers have access to scanning wands to help search for weapons.

·         TVP has a Community and Diversity Officer and ethnicity has not been raised to be an issue regarding knife crime.

·         A key issue for the police was to use resources effectively.

·         There would be Thames Valley wide programmes in schools as part of measures to deter knife crime. 

·         It was noted that the possession of knives and offensive weapons was a highly legislated area.  Many people in society use knives for the purpose of work or domestically and legislative powers were used to deter them from being used on the street.  Test purchases were also undertaken in shops to make sure businesses were selling knives lawfully.

·         It was usual for children in schools to be searched for the possession of knives and other measures were used to educate and deter.

·         It was reported that some knives in supermarkets were held in a locked area.

·         Regarding the bus lane in the London Road; nine tickets had been issued to drivers using the bus lane, however members were concerned at this low number.

·         It was suggested that the new unitary council could consider more cameras on roads with bus lanes and it was noted that enforcement was an issue.

·         Regarding recent pub closures in the town centre it was reported that the police had not advised pubs to close and this had been due to social media discussions.

Members were advised to contact Deputy Commander Hadley if they had any further queries.  The Chairman thanked Mr Hadley for his update.