CRIME figures for the first year of the Petersfield and Whitehill police merger show a big decrease, it was reported this week. Supt Bob Rose told a full meeting of Petersfield Town Council on Monday night detailed figures had yet to be analysed, but there had been a decrease in crime in the Petersfield area over the last 12 months. "I am really pleased to be able to report this decrease over the previous year for your local area, it is the only area under my command that has shown a decrease," he said. He said a breakdown of the areas in which crime had reduced over the year would be made public shortly. And Sgt Rhona Anderson told The Herald: "The figures are very pleasing, and Petersfield continues to be a very safe place to live." The importance of keeping police officers in Petersfield under the latest review of policing in East Hampshire was stressed by town councillors. They pleaded to keep their local bobbies when Supt Rose attended a meeting of the full council to answer questions about the sector policing review. Former mayor Ken Hick told Supt Rose: "The worry I have is local contact. It is my opinion that we have been fortunate to have Rhona Anderson. She has put herself out considerably. She has been attending meetings in her own time. All the time the authorities are getting further and further away. We do not have a magistrates' court, and all I can say is take this plea on board - we value our contact with the police. It is very difficult when you ring and say where you are and the police ask you where that is. I would like to think that just because you are remote geographically you will not be remote spiritually." Supt Rose stressed that the review was about sector policing and the reorganisation of the current 10 basic command units into around six new operational command units. "It should not change at all the local police structure currently in place," he told councillors. "Having said that, I might not be in command. All I can do is express my view about traditional policing and fight my corner for that cause." He said he thought it was important that the police and East Hampshire District Council boundaries should be co-terminus. At present, Supt Rose told councillors, there was an anomaly in that the three southern parishes of EHDC: Clanfield, Rowlands Castle and Horndean, were policed from Waterlooville. He said under the current review, the possibility of moving these parishes to the Petersfield area would be discussed. It was envisaged under the first proposals, said Supt Rose, to group the East Hampshire District Council area with Basingstoke and North East Hampshire to form one OCU, which would probably be based at Aldershot. George Watkinson told the meeting one of his major concerns was how traffic policing would be affected by the latest review. Supt Rose said there had already been a separate review of traffic policing, which was currently centred at Cosham, Farnborough and Whitehill. "If traffic policing was to be reduced you would go into Cosham, but plans at present are to keep traffic police at Whitehill, and I think that the building of the Hindhead tunnel will assist in keeping traffic police in this area," he added. Supt Rose said that as soon as proposals were put forward following the police review, he would write to the town council to let councillors know how they related to Petersfield.
