Police hope to bridge the gap between people’s perceptions of crime and the real figures at a new style public meeting to be held in Ross-on-Wye later this month where residents will be given the chance to ask about crime in the region.
The meeting is part of the Policing Matters initiative that hopes to banish people’s fear of crime by creating closer links with the community and encouraging people to take responsibility for helping to improve the area they live in.
The West Mercia Police Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Mark Turner will come to Ross to give a presentation with members of the Local Policing Team. People attending will be able to voice their concerns and question the officers on what is happening in and around Ross and what they are doing for the region.
The format for the meeting will include short presentations, a quiz to find out about people’s perceptions of crime levels and an overview of policing in the area. The role of the Local Policing Team and Community Support Officers will be addressed as will how the police are working with other partners and there will be a 45 minute question time.
The meeting has been organised by West Mercia Police Authority – an independent body of 17 people from within the West Mercia region which holds the West Mercia Constabulary to account on behalf of local communities.
Tracy Hudson of West Mercia Police Authority said: “The meeting will be much more about creating a dialogue and will be informative.
“People can talk in the group or can speak to the officers privately about specific issues afterwards. It is important for us to understand what key crime issues people are interested in and we need to let people know what we are doing about them.”
This meeting follows on from one held in Hereford when Councillor Bernard Hunt said: “We are lucky to live in a low crime area where levels of reported crime continue to reduce even further year on year for many types of crime.”
Councillor Hunt went on to urge people to make sure local problems are addressed by attending their quarterly Partners and Communities Together meetings and reporting problems.
He said: “I suggest people put the police non-emergency telephone number 08457 444888 into their mobile as they never know when they might see something.”
Tracy Hudson is hoping more members of the public come along to the meeting in Ross. “We could have done with some more members of the public at the Hereford meeting. We hope people in and around Ross come to the meeting and see how we can all work together. The meeting will be informative and a good opportunity for them to have their say,” she said.
“We already have a date for the next one which will be Thursday, November 20 and we will announce the venue at a later date.”
The first meeting will be held at the Larruperz Centre, Grammar School Close on Thursday, June 26 between 7pm to 9pm.
