Drugs - more to be done than just criminalising

So mephedrone is to be classified as a class B controlled drug. I'ts not for me to debate the rights and wrongs of that here. If it is made illegal to possess or to supply then we will respond and tackle it along with our other drugs work, focussing mainly on those people who deal in illegal drugs and in so doing harm our community in various ways. For me our policing enforcement role on drugs is quite clear (albeit constantly expanding!). We also support various partnerships in the City on prevention and minimising the harm caused by drugs. However, until we can get to the underlying issues which give rise to illegal drug use then it seems to me the requirments on us will continue to rise. Not just the supply and use of illegal drugs but the crime committed to get those drugs or to control markets.
But what about legal drugs too? The harm caused to the City by alcohol is probably much greater in terms of scale. The amount of crime committed through drunkeness, the way people put themselves at risk and the health implications are massive. So anything we can do to help people make better choices about how they seek stimulation , excitement or an escape from their daily routine must be a good thing. The Global Rock Challenge ( http://www.rockchallenge.co.uk) is one fantastic example of a scheme which started in Hampshire and is now international. A drug free high for young people through music and dance. The regional finals are happening soon and it's a great event. Then there is SKAA, Southampton Kids Alcohol Awareness. Another great scheme where young people can learn how to have fun without having to get drunk. The next SKAA event is on 13th April at Oceana. If you care about helping kids to learn safer ways to have fun and about the impact and dangers of alcohol then get them to go to this event. www.skaa.co.uk
Finally more good work this last weekend by the emergency services and council in responding to the potentially horrific collapse of part of a building at Weston. Terrifying for the residents but also what a difficult scene to arrive at and to try and make sense of. Well done to everyone who attended from all the services.

People who make a difference

This week I had two chances to recognise examples of how individuals contribute to making the City safer. One evening I met with colleagues at the Mayor's rooms in the Civic Centre to congratulate 3 Special Constables on achieving independent patrol status. That means that after many hours of training and joint patrol with more experienced colleagues and regular officers they have reached a level of experience and knowledge where they can now patrol independently. We take the training of Special Constables very seriously and their voluntary commitment to do a minimum of 4hrs patrol every week (many do much more) is a really valuable addition to the visible policing presence in the City which I know so many people want to see more of. The same evening I congratulated a Police Sergeant who, amongst his other duties, has for 15 years led a team of Special Constables as part of the football operation at St Mary's. Apparently he even reads this blog! I can't miss the chance to make a recruitment appeal so if you have ever thought about volunteering in the City or you are interested in a potential career in policing then being a Special Constable is a great opportunity and maybe even more attractive when the council implement their plan to offer a 100% council tax rebate for Special Constable's living and working in the City.
The second event was when I congratulated a member of staff at Sainsburys In Shirley for the actions he took in detaining a violent man for snatching cash from the store. The man was wanted for 7 other offences. That was great work supporting his colleagues, his company and the community and it was a pleasure to say well done and thank you to him.

Taking anti-social behaviour seriously?

Lots of press coverage today (Thursday) about the inspection reports on the police service across the country. The headline though isn't about the best and worst police forces (whatever that really means) it's about how we respond to anti-social behaviour (ASB). The statement in the press releases is that some police forces don’t take ASB sufficiently seriously. It's unfortunate these releases have been made before the reports are published so we don’t know yet how Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary comes out of those reports. When they are out, maybe this weekend, then you can find them on this website www.mypolice.org.uk,
However, I know in Southampton we do take these issues seriously. I know that some anti-social behaviour can be very damaging to neighbourhoods and especially to people who are more vulnerable. That's why we invest time and effort in responding to incidents of ASB and it's a major focus for all our neighbourhood police officers and community support officers. But it's not just us. We work with lots of other people on this, especially the City Council, but also local organisations including voluntary groups. Only yesterday I chaired a meeting of senior people from agencies in the City at which we discussed new standards and commitments for how we will tackle ASB in Southampton. This includes how we need to keep trying to identify and support people who are particularly vulnerable. Last summer police across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ran a major campaign to tackle ASB. We did that with our partners and community groups such as Neighbourhood Watch. It seemed to have a good effect on reducing incidents of ASB and increasing public confidence. We will do that again this summer and the more we can involve community groups and neighbourhoods in this the better.
So I wait to see what the Inspectors say about Hampshire Constabulary but whatever they say I will be leading Southampton Police to continue to work with our City partners in doing more and better on tackling ASB.
In the meantime those people who thought I only ever talk about football wont be dissapointed if I say that the work to identify the people who committed crimes at the recent derby game goes more public today with an appeal for help in putting names to faces. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5052800.Manhunt_for_hooligans_from_cup_match/
We've asked for help with 10 people but there are others we have already identified - arrests to follow soon.

Where did 2 weeks go?

Since my last comments we have had the derby game Saints v Pompey, I took a week off over half term (including my first time to St James Park to watch Newcastle, 39,000 on a cold wednesday night, awesome!)and last week seemed to rush by with organisational and management stuff; important but not as rewarding as time spent with people. As always the last 2 weeks has had a real range of policing issues to deal with. However, most seem somehow less significant in the shadow of the awful events at Totton at the weekend. Whatever the reasons and the causes such an event is a terrible sadness for so many people. On a lesser scale, but still of importance to the people affected, we've had some successes arresting and charging people for a variety of crimes over the last 2 weeks including a nasty assualt at Millbrook which resulted in a group of suspected offenders being taken off the streets and remanded in custody and some other people caught for house burglaries. Such burglaries used to be much more common several years ago and over the last few years we have done really well at reducing them to all time lows. But this year we have seen an increase for the first time for a long time. Is this caused by the economic downturn? We know many of the people committing burglaries are doing so to find the money for drug habits, especially herione addiction. I wouldn't have thought these people would have seen their income etc. fall as most weren't working anyway but maybe it is something about the economy. I say the numbers are rising but if I point out that there are about 92,000 households in the City and we get about 2-3 dwelling burglaries a day then you can see what the real levels are and how well we have done to reduce these over the years. Dwelling burglaries will feature as a specific target for the new year starting in April. That's along with tackling anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, violent crime and some others. No suprises there. One newer target is about making people in the City more confident in their policing service. Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour adds to confidence but we need to do more on how we communciate and engage better with people in the City. Not spin or false promises; just more open with people and more responsive to what people need and want from us. Maybe we need to use social marketing and networking more!