Ribble Valley Community Safety Partnership

COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP IN RURAL CRIME CRACKDOWN

GET out and stay out! That's the message to travelling criminals, who pilfer from the Ribble Valley countryside.

The Ribble Valley Community Safety Partnership has launched a tough crackdown on criminals, who come into the borough from surrounding towns and cities to steal livestock, fuel, scrap metal, agricultural machinery and vehicles.

The partnership is backing Farm Watch and Smartwater, two schemes aimed at tackling travelling criminals.

And bold signs with the message, "Thieves Beware," will be placed where the schemes are in operation.

Farm Watch allows the police to share information with farmers and hard-to-reach rural businesses.

It alerts farmers to any suspicious behaviour or recent crimes via e-mail or telephone, so that they can take precautions to keep their land and property safe.

Farmers are also encouraged to inform the police of any sightings of suspicious vehicles, poachers, or any other unusual activity, which is then passed on to other Farm Watch members.

Ribble Valley councillor Rosie Elms, who represents the Bowland, Newton and Slaidburn ward, said: "Farm Watch is forging closer working links between farmers, the police and the community.

"Although Ribble Valley is one of safest places in the UK, it is vital that we work together to tackle rural crime and send a clear message to travelling criminals that they will get short shrift in our borough."

Dozens of farmers have also signed up to the Smartwater scheme, whereby their property is marked with an invisible liquid, which when placed under ultraviolet light reveals the rightful owner.

Anyone taken into custody is routinely screened to check whether they have come into contact with Smartwater.

Community beat manager Jo Dolan, of Clitheroe Police, added: "Due to the remote locations of many rural properties, thieves believe there is less chance they will be seen as they carry out criminal activity, but with the help of the community we aim to ensure that this is not the case.

"Travelling criminals will be getting the message loud and clear that we are on their case and they are better keeping away from Ribble Valley."

Further information about Farm Watch is available from PC Tony Walsh or PC Jo Dolan on 01200 458734 and about Smartwater on 0870 242 8899.

The Ribble Valley Community Safety Partnership is a collection of agencies, including Ribble Valley Borough Council, Lancashire Constabulary and the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, that work together on projects and initiatives aimed at reducing crime, working with young people and reducing community safety.

Pic: JOINING FORCES - Rosie Elms and Jo Dolan

THIRD SAFEST PLACE IN THE UK 

RIBBLE Valley has been named the third safest place in the UK - a jump of two places on last year.

 And in a community safety survey undertaken by Ribble Valley Borough Council 93 per cent of respondents said they felt safe in the borough.

 Government figures have revealed that 16 crimes for every 1,000 residents were recorded in Ribble Valley for 2009/10, the joint-third lowest in the country with Tynedale in Northumbria.

 This is an improvement on 2007/08, when 19 crimes per 1,000 population were recorded, and 2008/09, when the figure was 18, making Ribble Valley the fifth safest place in the UK.  

 The Ribble Valley Community Safety Partnership, a multi-agency organisation led by Ribble Valley Borough Council and Lancashire Constabulary, was tasked with reducing crime in the borough by 13.5 per cent within three years, when it was formed in 2005.

 Since then it has maintained its position in the top five performing community safety partnerships in the UK and was last year praised by the Police and Crime Standards Directorate for performing "significantly above its peers."

 Ribble Valley councillor Jan Alcock, who is the partnership's chairman, said: "All the agencies involved in the partnership are to be congratulated for their outstanding commitment to reducing crime in Ribble Valley.

 "Thanks to some innovative work on a shoestring the partnership has contributed significantly to crime reduction in Ribble Valley over recent years."

 Insp. Chris Saville, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: "These results are a testimony to the hard work of everyone in the partnership.

 "Not only have levels of crime been reduced, but there has been a significant improvement in detection rates. Ribble Valley is now an even safer place in which to live and work."

 Ribble Valley Borough Council's community safety survey revealed that 93 per cent of respondents felt safe in the area on foot and 90 per cent felt safe in their car, compared to neighbouring boroughs, where 57 per cent said they felt unsafe.

 Survey respondents said their main areas of concern were speeding vehicles (45 per cent) and dog-fouling (41 per cent). Seventy per cent said they wanted a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour and 65 per cent wanted a zero-tolerance approach to under-age drinking in public. 

 The Ribble Valley Community Safety Partnership is responsible for developing a crime and disorder reduction strategy for the borough every three years outlining key priorities and a plan of action.

Custody visitors wanted

Lancashire Police Authority is on the hunt for volunteers to join its Independent Custody Visiting Scheme and are looking for your help to promote this in your neighbourhood.

Information about custody visitors:

Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and live or work in Lancashire .

Custody Visitors are unpaid volunteers, who make random visits, in pairs, to police stations across the county. Their unique status allows them to see for themselves the conditions of the detainees and to provide an independent check on the way police officers carry out their duties in respect of detainees' rights. Their opinions are valued and their views are listened to.

It is hoped that each custody visitor will carry out a minimum of 10 visits per annum. The Authority currently has over 50 custody visitors on its files and is seeking to increase that number.

The Authority provides full training and support for the role and has a DVD available with full information for anyone wanting to learn more.

Applications are welcome from all eligible people irrespective of gender, ethnic origin, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or any other factor.

People wanting further information on the ICV scheme or a copy of the DVD should contact Mrs Jay Nicholas at Lancashire Police Authority, tel: 01772 532251 or e-mail: Jay.Nicholas@lancashire.gov.uk.

Police and Council officers are delivering sturdy poly-carbonate glasses to all pubs in Clitheroe, Longridge and Whalley plus other licensed venues in time for the World Cup which will be held during June/July 2010.The aim is to prevent breakages and glassings and to encourage more people to drink responsibly.

Over 3,000 glasses will be distributed to relevant premises.

Trained Door Staff

Ribble Valley CSP is funding training for door staff in accordance with Drinks Industry requirements. Places have been offered to 20 staff for a four day course which will be held at the Dog Music and Sports Bar from 4th to 7th May 2010. Training looks at Health and Safety, Risk Assessment, First Aid and Anger Management issues.

Speed Gun for Longridge

Longridge Police will soon have their own speed gun for detecting speeding vehicles in the Longridge area in  PC Paul Worswick has successfully bid for funding to the CSP and this will enable 'boy racers' coming in from over the boundary to be targetted more effectively than at present. Expect more Fixed Penalty Notices, boys and girls!

Licensing Visits

Longridge will be targetted by Licensing officers in the coming weeks; all Licensed premises will be visited by Police/Council Officers to check that licence conditions are being adhered to, reminding off licensees about proxy sales and the 'Think 21' campaign run by LCC Trading Standards.

Ribble Valley crime at all-time low - one of safest places to live in Lancashire 

CRIME in the Ribble Valley has hit an all-time low and the borough continues to be the safest place to live in Lancashire. This is according to latest crime statistics revealed by Clitheroe Police Inspector Chris Saville. 

He reported the rate at which police are solving crimes locally is higher than ever before, with Clitheroe Police having the best detection rates for criminal damage and violent crime in the county. It was a bumper crime-busting year, which saw an overall 9% reduction in all crimes compared to the previous year.

According to the figures, there was an impressive 17.3% reduction in violent crime and robbery since April and December last year, with an impressive 93.2% deduction rate in drug-related offences and a 62.5% detection rate in violent crime. 

Vehicle crime fell by 24.9% and there was also a 6.2% reduction in criminal damage across the the borough. A slight increase in burglary was noted during the summer months of May and June, but figures have remained stable since then. There were six incidents of knife crime since April and one of those was a child brandishing a craft knife.

Insp. Saville, who took charge of Clitheroe Police in September, said the figures were encouraging.

"We have had a sustained reduction year-on-year and I am delighted to report that crime in the Ribble Valley is at an all-time low. For example, in 2003 there were 217 crimes committed in one month compared to 145 in 2009. This is a significant reduction.  

"The rural borough continues to be the safest place to live in Lancashire and is in the top five safest places in the country.

"However, the biggest problem is how crime is perceived and we are not saying the Ribble Valley is a zero- crime area. Crime still occurs, but our detection rates are better than they have ever been. This has a knock-on effect because if people know they will be brought to justice they are unlikely to commit crime.

Insp. Saville went on to say: "These are genuine, significant reductions in crime brought about by a a lot of hard work by police officers as well as our partner agencies such as Ribble Valley Borough Council's Crime and Disorder Partnership Group and members of the local community, but the challenge for police now will be to maintain crime levels and reduce them further.

"People tend to forget that the Ribble Valley geographically is a very large area to police. Therefore, we try to make the most of the resources we have. The good news is that we now have two analysts that identify crime hotspots all the time and forward the information on to officers".

 Looking ahead, Insp. Saville added: "There is no room for complacency and over the next 12 months we aim to improve this performance further. 

"However, we cannot do this on our own and need the help of vigilant members of the public to come forward with information about any crime they have witnessed or know about.

"Please call Clitheroe Police on 01200 443344 or the free and confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111 with information."

Partnership Saves Family Lives

A Ribble Valley Family are indebted to the hard work of local agencies after sparks flew in their home.

In the early hours of Thursday 7th January Clitheroe Fire Engines were called to a house fire in Pendleton near Clitheroe, it was thought a fuse box had triggered the blaze. The Fire Service attended the scene within six minutes and within the hour had brought the fire under control. The family who had been sleeping at the time all escaped from the fire all because they had been woken by a free fire service smoke alarm. 

The family had been visited by a local ECSO (Emergency Community Support Officer), Susan Hartley for a free Home Fire Safety Check. The resulting fit out of the home with smoke alarms have no doubt coupled with the advice they received from the fire ECSO on making their emergency call, saved the lives of the local family.

  Ribble Valley Community Safety Partnership Co-ordinator, Bill Alker said, "we are incredibly proud of the work of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and that of the Emergency Community Support Officers (ECSO) provide to keep Ribble Valley as one of the safest in the country. It is only through the hard work of all agencies in the partnership that Ribble Valley remains to be a safe place to live. In context the average number of fires across all 14 district council is 307 fires per month, in Ribble Valley this is just 7 fires per month. A big thank you to all the contributing agencies for their work into preventing injury or worse to this particular family. " 

If people would more like more info about the work of Lancashire Fire and Rescue service, or to enquire about a Home Fire Safety Check, then please contact them on 0800 169 1125 or visit their website at,

Going plastic to cut pub violence

Plastic beer containers are being handed out to pubs in the Ribble Valley in a bid to crack down on violent glass-related incidents.

Thanks to funding from Ribble Valley Borough Council's Safety Partnership Group, Police in Clitheroe are giving away 3,000 stronger polycarbonate pint "glasses" to avoid breakage and to stop them being used as a weapon in a pub disturbance.

The shatterproof plastic versions have been welcomed by Clitheroe Police's licensing officer PC Cath Towler. She said: "We have had a handful of glass-related incidents in the past and we want to prevent these incidents altogether.

We realise that the pub trade is going though a hard time due to the recession and a box of 48 plastic pint glasses cost approximately £35 to purchase, which is more expensive than the glasses pubs currently use. But the polycarbonate glasses are not only lighter, they are virtually unbreakable and will create a safer environment for drinkers."

Mr Bill Alker, community development officer for the borough council's Community Safety Partnership Group, said: "We were more than welcome to support this project because we recognise that plastic glasses will prevent serious harm occurring and the council is very much signed up to the alcohol harm reduction agenda." Safer Drinking