On The Beat

MY second month as Darlington's Detective Chief Inspector has been a busy one.

The Darlington team has been involved in a number of major investigations, but that doesn't mean our attentions have been diverted from the most common problems of car crime, burglary and anti-social behaviour.

I have been pleased with the correspondence I have received from the public since my first article in The Northern Echo.

Many people have written to me or passed information to other officers and Crimestoppers about criminal activity in their area.

Please be assured that all information is treated in confidence and will be processed and matched with other intelligence. I ask you to be patient and you will soon see action.

This month I would like to concentrate on the roles of the various uniformed staff you see patrolling Darlington and explain how they all work.

The police and Darlington Borough Council work closely together to make our streets as safe as possible and as a result there has been an increase in the different types of uniformed staff patrolling the streets of Darlington.

Firstly, there are the police officers, and I hope their role doesn't need explaining.

Secondly, there are the council's uniformed wardens, who wear blue shirts and American-style caps.

Their main role is to deal with environmental issues such as litter, dog fouling and anti-social behaviour, but they are also trained to carry out domestic security surveys to reduce the likelihood of your home being targeted by criminals.

Finally, there are police community support officers who wear similar clothing to police officers but have reflective hat bands, blue epaulettes and ties.

They are employed by the police and spend most of their time patrolling the streets providing reassurance and dealing with problems of anti-sociable behaviour.

It has long been recognised that public demand for police visibility is simply not practical with our resource levels.

Officers are regularly diverted from street patrols because of other demands on their time, such as responding to specific incidents and policing public events.

I believe it is often more effective to deploy officers on specific operations, whether in plain clothes or uniform, that actually contribute to our low levels of crime rather than simply meeting the public's need to see officers on the beat.

However, I think the high visibility called for by the public is now being met thanks to the work of the uniformed wardens and community support officers.

Before I finish, I must renew my plea for people to take better care of their property. Thefts from cars continue to plague us and as I write this article a report has just come in of the theft of a laptop computer that was left on display in an unlocked car.

If you see or hear of any criminal activity call Darlington police, on (01325) 467681, or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111. Let's continue to make Darlington too difficult for the criminals to crack.