Uttlesford: Policing Our Parishes

Officers from our Uttlesford Community Policing Team have vowed to visit every single parish in the district this spring and summer.

It’s a chance for residents to renew links with our police officers and police community support officers again after the pandemic

Parish councils are notified of our visits in advance and councillors invited to come out on patrol with our officers. We’ll also be visiting local schools, carrying out speed checks and going door-to-door with a community safety officer from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service offering crime prevention and fire safety advice and reminding people how they can contact us if they need to.

PC Souel Sampson and PCSO Nikki Morris, of Uttlesford Community Policing Team, visited Radwinter on 27 April.

First, they had a chat with Hedgehog Class at Radwinter Primary School, telling them how to stay safe if they get lost, showing them how some of their police equipment works and answering lots of questions.

They then patrolled around the village with ECFRS community safety officer Roy Evans, meeting and chatting with villagers.

“It’s good to be out in our communities so people can see us, know that we’re here and come to talk to us. They can speak to us about local issues, or just have a chat, that’s what we’re here for. Speak to us about anything, even if it’s just about the weather.
“The visits are rebuilding the links between the police and the public again after the pandemic and reminding people that we are approachable and that we are part of their community.
“We are visiting the schools to show the children the police are here to help them. Some parents will use the police to say ‘You need to eat your vegetables, otherwise the police will come and take you away’.
“But that puts a fear into children which we don’t want them to have. We want them to talk to us and see us as being here to help them if they need it. We always ask them to give us a smile and wave if they see us and to come up and say hello.”
PC Souel Sampson, of Uttlesford Community Policing Team

“Uttlesford is the largest district in Essex and we’ve got a lot of rural communities who don’t often see us because they have relatively low rates of crime and anti-social behaviour.
“But of course, every crime and incident of anti-social behaviour matters to the victim and to the wider community and we want to remind people how they can contact us when they need to.
“We want to use our visits to provide reassurance to residents, give them relevant crime prevention advice if they need it, listen to their concerns and encourage them to provide us with any information they may have which can help us to keep their communities safe.
“We’re advertising all our visits in advance on our Essex Police Uttlesford District Facebook page but we know many people in rural locations don’t have regular access to social media, so the parish councils are helping us to publicise our visits locally.
“If people have any issues and know we’re going to be about, they can come and speak to us. Of course, we are aware that often people will be at work so we’d encourage anyone with information about a crime, criminality or anti-social behaviour to report it online, if they can, at www.essex.police.uk or by ringing 101. If it’s an emergency or a crime in progress, then do ring 999.”
Sergeant Clare Bailey, of Uttlesford Community Policing Team

ECFRS community safety officer Roy Evans says it’s great to be able to work with the police and other partners in this way and the visits really do help to keep people safe.

In Radwinter, Roy found that four homes he visited did not have working smoke alarms. That will now change and, potentially, lives could be saved.

“We have a great working relationship with the police. They find it helpful to have me there as sometimes people could feel alarmed to have the police knocking on their door. This approach reassures them and shows that we are all working together to keep people safe.”
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service community safety officer Roy Evans

PC Kerry Rowson is eager for residents to sign up to receive copies of the Uttlesford Community Policing Team’s monthly newsletter with information about police activity across the district.

During the Policing Our Parishes visits, officers will have printed copies to give out but people can also ask for the newsletter to be emailed.

“As a community policing team, we focus our attention on that parish for that day. We tell people what we are doing in their area and ask them if they have any concerns they want to raise.
“So far, speeding has been the main issue and our officers will conduct speed checks in areas which have been identified as having a problem.
“We can offer crime prevention advice if it’s needed and the Fire community safety officer talks to homeowners about fire safety and arranges the fitting of free smoke alarms for anyone whose home doesn’t have one. In rural locations, this is particularly important.”
PC Kerry Rowson, of Uttlesford Community Policing Team

Our team has already visited High Easter, Little Dunmow and Radwinter. Their next visits are to Arkesden & Langley on Wednesday 4 May, Lindsell on Wednesday 11 May and Ashdon on Friday 13 May, all between 10am and noon.

 

Keep updated

Keep an eye out for Uttlesford Community Policing Team’s visit to your parish and do come along and talk to us if you have issues which are concerning you.

To to keep updated about the team’s work, Like, Follow and Share our posts on the Essex Police - Uttlesford District Facebook page and @EPUttlesford on Twitter.

You can also sign up to receive copies of our monthly district newsletter by emailing [email protected]  We’re also looking for locations where we can leave printed copies for people to pick up every month, e.g. community centres or village halls, doctors’ surgeries, libraries etc., so please email us if you can help.

And if you want to know about what’s happening across Essex, sign up to receive our Dispatch, our weekly newsletter by searching Social Media on our website.

 

Do you have information for us?

If you see something which you feel needs police attention, or you have information about a crime, anti-social behaviour or criminal activity, ring 999 if it is an emergency or a crime in progress, otherwise you can report it online at www.essex.police.uk where you can also speak to an online Live Chat operator between 7am and 11pm. Alternatively, you can ring 101.

You can also contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, online or by calling 0800 555 111.