A NEW Neighbourhood Policing initiative is coming to Alton and it will give the community more of a say in policing issues. Heralding a return to old-fashioned policing, it will enable the police to work with partnership agencies in a system aimed at tackling neighbourhood objectives, while giving ownership and accountability to the community they serve. To be launched in early March, the initiative is viewed as a positive addition to the fight against anti-social behaviour and crime - a fight which Alton Police believes it is winning. It is a battle being fought on many fronts, a tactic which has already seen an overall reduction in crime levels. As such, Alton Police is supportive of Alton Town Council's determination to see a seven- camera CCTV system installed in the town centre within two years. Inspector Simon Dodds believes that while CCTV would not prevent crime, it would undoubtedly bring benefits in terms of detection and in providing evidence. Following two recent armed robberies in the town in 2006, he can understand the strength of public feeling in support of CCTV, but he refutes accusations that, due to a dearth of security cameras, Alton has become a "soft touch". He is adamant, there are resources in place to police the town effectively and there is more to come. At Alton Town Council's policy and resources committee meeting last Thursday, councillors voted to push on with plans to work towards the provision of a CCTV system by 2009 and to allocate £15,000 from capital reserves to move the project forward. The system is expected to cost up to £120,000 to install and as much as £52,000 per year to monitor and maintain. It was agreed to make an application for a £20,000 grant from the East Hampshire Community Safety Partnership to help kick- start a fundraising campaign. While applauding the decision to send out a positive message about its intentions, Insp Dodds expressed concern that, as a small market town, Alton may struggle to find the monitoring costs and may need to find a way of sharing these with neighbouring towns. In the meantime, the emphasis is on high- profile policing with more officers on the streets and a growing number of tools in place to get the work done. According to Insp Dodds, Alton now has five neighbourhood teams, each one headed by a full-time police officer, supported by police community support officers (PCSOs). Led by Pc Peter Kelly, the town centre team comprises two additional part-time beat officers, three PCSOs - increased to four by mid February, whose remit is to spend 80 per cent of their time on patrol - a Hampshire Constabulary-employed traffic warden, and one of the strongest teams of special constables across the force. "The specials bring a great deal to the shop floor in terms of visibility, experience and action," said the inspector. The part-timers and the specials are generally employed on Friday and Saturday evenings, to help tackle night-time anti-social behaviour and crime. Alton also has the biggest dispersal zone in the county, embracing the whole of the town centre and regular trouble spots such as Anstey Park, the Public Gardens and Alton College. Since the dispersal order (DO) went live on November 18, up to last Tuesday frontline officers have made 43 orders to people considered to be acting in an anti-social manner. Of these, five were later arrested for breaching the conditions set for not returning to the area. According to one officer: "The (DO) legislation has added a new tool to the frontline police officers' armoury and has been embraced not only by police officers who deal with anti- social problems in the town, but also by the excellent special police constables who assist so effectively on Friday and Saturday nights." While the six-month dispersal order will be reviewed at the end of April, Insp Dodds was adamant: "Since the dispersal order, we have had positive support and feedback from the street and crime trends are falling." But, he stressed: "Alton is still a nice market town and it is important to try to police using appropriate policies." Enter the Neighbourhood Policing initiative, which from March will see local councillors acting as advocates for the community. People will tell them about the issues that concern them and they will then raise these issues with a community safety team. Based at East Hampshire District Council, the team will comprise a community safety co- ordinator, anti-social behaviour officer, community safety police officer and an analyst. They will meet fortnightly to review the issues and task local beat officers and PCSOs with actions to address the issues. Rather than rest on their laurels, since November Alton's neighbourhood teams have drawn up their own 10-point plans with a determination to address the issues by the end of February when the new system begins. In Alton town centre, this list has included: improved liaison with schools, sharing of information with housing associations, tackling anti-social behaviour in the Tanhouse Lane area, enforcing and monitoring dispersal orders, visits to licensed premises and setting up Neighbourhood Watch schemes.
