CAP - COMMUNITY AND POLICE

          How many times whilst walking along the street, have you witnessed something and you have said to yourself ‘where are the police?’. If I reported the incident would any one take notice?

          In Pickering and other places, the  community and the police meet together on a regular basis in order to try and resolve the problems that have been the cause for concern.

          Where are the meetings and what is the format? The meetings are informal and are regulated by the chairman David Porter, whilst the secretary Fred Downes, who also deals with the administration, takes minutes.

          Before the meeting starts there is free tea/coffee and biscuits, with time for a chat before the meeting begins. There is a report from the police on how your local officers have done in terms of crime over the last 4 months, he gives a breakdown on the various crimes committed in our area along with the number of crimes committed. After Tim (Insp. Tim Hutchinson) has given his report, questions are put to him from the audience.

          Generally we have a guest speaker at the meeting, talking about relevant subjects such as the workings of the magistrate’s court and the probation service. Some past speakers have covered the subjects of drugs, traffic incidents and the environment (flooding). All speakers give their time voluntary and are passionate about their subject and like Tim, they take questions from the audience.

          Finally we have an open forum, usually the meeting takes about one and a half hours. So come along and meet the police with other bodies and discuss issued of concern. Please contact Fred Downes if you wish to come along to a meeting: fred.downes@btinternet.com  It would be nice to see some new faces at the meetings.

 Fred Downes.