To receive the above Police update.

Jeff Pick said that the latest crime stats for Windsor had been circulated to Members ahead of the meeting.

Councillor Davies commented on the stats regarding ‘cars which had been entered by unknown means’. She asked if this included residents who left their car unlocked.

Jeff Pick said that it was opportunistic thieves that just walked along roads trying door handles, they did not use any other gadgets or tools. Small items that had been left in cars were stolen. The community safety volunteers would be undertaking a car campaign to ensure that residents could protect themselves from being a target. The volunteers would patrol the area and if they spotted any items left clearly in cars, they would send a letter to the owners making them aware. On bike crime, TVP were promoting the use of bike trackers which could be used if a bike was stolen, work was being done in partnership with the bike hub at the Swan Inn.

There had been a number of changes to the local police force, with a number of personnel moving on or being deployed to different parts of the borough. A burglary campaign was planned, particularly as more people were leaving windows open in the summer months. Leaflets would be put through open windows, warning residents of the dangers of leaving an open window unattended. Community speed watch was now entirely carried out by the community and there had been a lot of negative feedback to the changes. There were currently two speed watch groups, in Cookham and Wraysbury. To create a speed watch area, residents needed to have a group of at least three people come together to raise the issue. The community safety volunteer team would be able to assist the carrying out of a community speed watch, if required.

Councillor Cannon felt that the constant changing of police staff was not efficient and was not beneficial to the local community. Public protection was in his Cabinet Member portfolio and he would be investigating the matter, the police service needed to have some stability.

Jeff Pick added that it took time for officers to build relationships with the local community. The changes were inevitable due to the current shortage of staff.

The Chairman agreed with the comments made about the changes. He said that he had seen two police officers undertaking a speed watch on the A322. Traffic coming into Windsor was having to slow down from 50mph to 30mph, but the officers were focused on the road going out of Windsor. He asked what justified this speed watch as he did not feel there were any accidents on this road. The Chairman said that there were other roads in the borough where there were speeding issues and these should be prioritised.

Jeff Pick said he would speak to the traffic division to find out why the speed watch had taken place.

ACTION – Jeff Pick to report back to Councillor Bowden on the details of the speed watch which had recently taken place on the A322.

Councillor Price commented on the changes to the speed watch scheme, residents would now have to fund their own equipment. She believed that there was a long delay between a speed watch being carried out and any further action being taken.

Jeff Pick explained that there were initially plans to buy 50 sets of equipment but the funding for this did not appear. When a driver was caught speeding, up to three letters were sent to their address, depending on how many times they have been caught. If there were any further issues after this, then enforcement action could be pursued. The biggest scheme currently running in RBWM was in Bourne End, with over 1000 letters being sent out in the first month.

Councillor Davey said that depending on residents to buy their own equipment to undertake a speed watch was not what TVP should be doing. It was unrealistic to have 3 people live on the same street that would be happy to take part, making it very difficult to actually undertake a community speed watch.

Jeff Pick said the reaction to the changes to the speed watch scheme had not been positive, he would pass it back to officers at TVP.

Councillor Knowles said there was appetite for residents to get involved, he would be discussing it with his parish council.

Jeff Pick confirmed that as long as three people were signed up on the website, the community safety volunteers could help run the actual speed watch.