Policing at the heart of communities

Small crimes and anti-social behaviour can be festering problems which build to a major incident if they are not nipped in the bud.

Strategies like alleygating are one tool used by the Community Safety Service to restore community spirit and drive out bad behaviour.

Now the newly strengthened team is mapping Oldham’s crime patterns and getting to know the neighbours to make the borough a safer place. Janice Barker reports.


Oldham was a pioneer area for neighbourhood policing, based on the idea that getting down to smaller areas and building a rapport between officers and residents could create a two way flow of help and information.

It was called Reassurance Policing back in 2004, and five years later the idea has spawned a more sophisticated set up, allied to Oldham’s new District Partnerships.

And a major part of the neighbourhood way of working has been given a restructure and a sharper focus. The Community Safety Service, formerly the Community Safety Unit, is now headed by two senior police officers who between them have almost 40 years experience of partnership working.

The service is headed by Supt Chris Sykes, who recently began the crackdown on cheap drink promotions in town centre pubs and bars following a triple stabbing in Yorkshire Street.

Managing the day to day operations is Chief Insp John Taylor. Supt Sykes says they have been seconded to the service for two years to restructure it and give it more “oomph”.

And they want to hear from Oldham people about their concerns, what would improve their quality of life, and how they can promote the team at street level.

They have access to 30 police and council employees, but the partnership also covers the fire service, probation, the Positive Steps advice and guidance service, and NHS Oldham.

Supt Sykes stressed: “We are not suddenly going to change it into a police department, but we can provide some real leadership with a more focused team structure.”

They cover teams involved in crime reduction, anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, a violent crime co-ordinator, the analytical unit, and a multi agency team dealing with youth problems and crime.

Supt Sykes said: “It is a growing team and a mix of local authority and police employees.

“One of the concerns is that I don’t think we have promoted enough what the community service unit does for Oldham, and make sure people know what services we do provide.”

Most recently the service has been behind the latest alleygating initiative, which councillors approved last week.

The pioneering scheme was suspended earlier this year so the community service team could analyse burglary patterns to set a clear policy for the whole of Oldham.

How well previous schemes are maintained and supported by residents has also been reviewed, and new designs will be tried, plus improved locking systems including self-closing and keyless options.

District Partnerships can also fund their priority alleygating schemes.

Another service they are keen to promote is home security — locks, window locks, securing back gardens, fitting alarms or outdoor lights — to victims of burglary to make sure they are not repeat victims.

Chief Insp Taylor said: “We don’t want you to be a victim of crime again, it’s bad enough in the first place.”

Another absolute priority is domestic violence and abuse, added Supt Sykes, and the service has a domestic abuse co-ordinator, Lyndsey Wheelhouse.

She is a local authority employee who works with the police domestic violence unit and two independent domestic abuse advisers.

Another team member is Sgt John Murdoch, the violent crime co-ordinator, currently involved in the review of licenses at 22 clubs and pubs in Oldham town centre.

And an important new strategy for the Oldham is StaySafe, a Home Office campaign to keep young people safe out on the streets, funded by the Youth Crime Action Plan.

Another Community Safety Service team member, Sgt Gary Wheelhouse, is co-ordinating StaySafe efforts to take alcohol off youngsters, return them to their parents, look for parental support, and if there is anti-social behaviour, to take the young people somewhere safe.

This will be running borough-wide over the next few months, depending on where the hot spots are.

Both officers want to build relations with ward councillors, and get their service publicised through the council website, council switchboard (770 3000), police stations, consultation meetings and Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meetings, other wide known as ward forums.

“Oldham is a very big borough, size wise, and we already have really good links with neighbourhood police teams and we want to build on links with council neighbourhood managers, we speak to them every day.” said Supt Sykes.