September Blog

Special Constabulary 

It has been quite a busy time for the Barrow Neighbourhood Policing Team - I'm particularly thankful for the commitment and support of the Special Constabulary who assist with so many policing operations throughout the area.

On Thursday 12th September 2013, they took over the policing of Walney for 12 hours. This meant that Walney and Barrow Island benefited from an increased visible policing presence. This proved particularly helpful in supplementing proactive policing of some Anti Social Hotspots in the area.

A happy bunch even on a rainy Thursday 

A timely reminder for the darker nights

I would just like to take this opportunity to remind people that the darker nights are indeed with us and unfortunately this presents increased opportunities for burglars to use the cover of darkness to steal from law abiding members of our community . 

The criminal mind is indeed an innovative one, so please if you see anything out of the ordinary, or just something that needs further investigation, do call us. I can’t begin to tell you how many burglaries I have been to, where some one tells me they did hear something, but didn’t want to “trouble us.” I can assure you, you are not troubling us we are here 24/ 7 for a reason, use us!

Please follow the link for more practical advice .

http://www.cumbria.police.uk/news/latest-news/barrow-police-warn-householders-to-secure-their-property

Cumbria Constabulary Alcohol harm strategy

Alcohol plays a major part in many peoples lives the vast majority using it as a social lubricant, with no real issues. However this is not the case for all, for some people Alcohol is unfortunately a catalyst for disaster, ranging from physical dependency, criminality / ASB and some truly horrible life changing events. 

From the 16^th of September the Constabulary has supported 2 weeks of proactive policing focusing on understanding the wider issues surrounding alcohol harm within our communities. Amongst many issues probed was the obvious changes to social drinking ,which have taken place over the last few years .Such as the national economy impact on public drinking and the significant move to drinking in the home. Locally we do much work in the town to reduce violence within what we refer to as the Night Time Economy , but of course none of the safeguards we have there  transfer to private homes , so no CCTV ,no licensing hours , public entertainment license  and no door supervision . However rest assured your local policing team continues to be innovative as we act in partnership with Environmental Health and local Landlords to reduce drink related offending in public or indeed  private. Many tenancy agreements for instance prohibit disorderly conduct , we also continue to revisit every section 27 dispersal offender at home , just to make sure they understand what is expected of them in the future . Section 27 notices formally direct a person to leave the area with those returning or failing to leave being arrested .

Local officers and authorities visit licensed premises ensuring safety for all!

Local Meet and Greet

Held on  Dalton Road on Thursday 26^th September, we were again joined by many partners including trading standards, local authority and Cumbria’s Policing Crime Commissioner Mr Richard Rhodes. Thank you to all who supported and indeed took the time to speak to us , telling us about some community concerns and one or two just thanking us for previous good work ! .

A Day in the Life of a Dog Handler

A typical day for Glenn consists of the following;

·         I’ll get up and spend an hour grooming the dogs/cleaning the kennel and run. Then I exercise the dogs.

·         I book on duty with the control centre and then go mobile in the police car which has a special dog cage built in the back.

·         Liaise with the Patrol Sergeant and then check logs for any incidents that have occurred since I was last on duty.

·         Attend the morning tasking meetings or shift briefings depending on what shift I work.

·         Then it’s time to exercise or train the dog again

·         I’ll then go on general patrol where I monitor both the Barrow and Kendal talk groups but if needs be I am available to respond to incidents county wide.

·         If I have been asked to attend any incidents I will attend those, if not I support local officers with warrants, arrest enquiries, public order patrols, school talks, etc.

·         You guessed right, it’s time to exercise the dogs again.

·         Feed the dogs.

·         Put them in the kennels for bedtime.

Then it’s bedtime for me!!! So I’ll be ready to do it all again the next day.

Some extra pics !

Police Community Support Officers about to start a local streetsafe

PCs Mike Brown and Caroline Kendall speak to local youth groups as part of

The  Constabulary Alcohol strategy week .

And finally PC Eric McKinley dividing his time as a community officer and his more specialist role of Public order medic, we have many talented people on our local community team! Many of our Community officers are also Public order trained. 

Thanks very much for taking the time to read our blog, till next time take care.

Mike O’Hagan

Barrow Police Community  Inspector.