Bike nuisances have been warned

Community Inspector Kate Firman from the Safer Peterborough Partnership (SPP)
Mini Moto seized for riding around Rocket Rec, DogsthorpeMini Moto seized for riding around Rocket Rec, Dogsthorpe
Mini Moto seized for riding around Rocket Rec, Dogsthorpe

) - engaging with the public and tackling the issues which affect them the most

Since I took over the new role of Community Inspector in November 2015 we (the police and Peterborough City Council) have adopted a new approach to identifying and dealing with the issues which affect our communities the most. Once an issue is identified it is researched and this information is followed up by us engaging with the community and taking the appropriate action.

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This has been helped by the development of the SPP (Safer Peterborough Partnership) which continues to grow and now includes Safer Schools, Police Licensing, Fire, CCTV, Road Safety, and the three police community enforcement teams, the Council ASB team, Traveller Enforcement Officer, Housing Enforcement and Neighbourhood Enforcement teams.

Police SUS-150618-150233001Police SUS-150618-150233001
Police SUS-150618-150233001

Some of you may have seen the tweet we sent out on May 9 about this bike we seized (pictured) – this links in nicely with our latest engagement work:

The police and council get numerous reports of nuisance motorcycle riders across the city due to the noise and fear that they cause to local residents. We looked at the number of incidents reported to the police alone and found that there were 467 reports made between 01/01/2015-16/03/2016. Historically, the reports rise significantly in the summer months with the lighter nights and better weather. In order to try to get ahead of the game we identified the top three hot spot communities for nuisance motorbikes and came out to talk to those people most affected by the problem – those living, working and visiting there.

PCs and PCSOs and colleagues from the council ASB Team, Fire Service and Parking Team visited residents in the Ortons, Stanground/Park Farm and the Welland and asked them about who is causing the problems and when.

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We let people know what we are doing to tackle the issue through enforcement with section 59 ASB warnings, seizing vehicles and prevention including deployment of our PCAT (the PSV CCTV ANPR Team) van staffed by Police Service Volunteers.

Police SUS-150618-150233001Police SUS-150618-150233001
Police SUS-150618-150233001

This helped people understand how to report incidents and what details to include by promoting the “My Peterborough” App. Graeme Clark, the Tasking Manager from the Peterborough City Council developed on on-line survey which was used to get feedback about how this issue was effecting people’s quality of life. This information was also gathered during our face to face engagement with residents in their homes, as we realise that not everyone uses digital media.

The response we had was very positive – Graeme said: “The fact that the community was prepared to stand up and be counted is great in my eyes.”

The partnership will now be following up on this information and tackling the problem in a structured and focussed way. Our message to the few people out there causing this type of ASB is clear – watch out you may lose your bike if you continue to behave in this way.