Annual meeting 2017

HASTINGS AND ST LEONARDS NHW GENERAL MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2017 

Attendees: A record of attendees and apologies is available from Graham Crane 

1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS 

Graham Crane: Welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. 

2. Apologies: had been received from 2 coordinators and Cllr Colin Fitzgerald, 

3. Police – new policing model 

Anita Turner, Hastings Neighbourhood Policing Inspector, described the new Sussex policing model and answered questions. Main points included: 

• The aim of the new model was to achieve more with less; 

• The Neighbourhood team was now known as the Prevention team and would focus on priority crimes and areas such as the Town Centre, ASB, drug dealing, cuckooing and burglary; 

• There would now be a Prevention team Youth Officer targeted at children who needed help; 

• The new mode of working was based on recent successes in Hastings and multi-agency working. For example, problems with youths in Kings Road, St Leonards. The police and other agencies worked together with the community to resolve the problems. As a result, there is now a process if problems with youths occur in future; 

• What has been lost is the community intelligence that the previous organisation of teams for each Ward were able to gather. We need to work together to re-establish this intelligence gathering; 

• More information on the model can be found @ https://sussex.police.uk/about-us/priorities-and- direction/local-policing-model/. The police are also planning to let people know what they’ve been doing using a “you said we did” style. 

4. Open forum – Questions 

• What is the best way to contact the local police. In addition to 101 and 999 for emergencies the Previous Team can be contacted on 01273 404934 or email @ hastings@sussex.pnn.police.uk ; Details of all methods of contacting the police can be found their contact card @ https://sussex.police.uk/media/6483/sussex-police-101-card-hastings-web.pdf ; 

• Will there be any more Ward panel meetings. Only in targeted areas; 

• What do we do if we get no response from the police. Try the contact details above, but bear in mind everything has to be prioritised and there may be more urgent problems to deal with. It is though important for coordinators and members of the public to report issues as that helps build a picture of the problem areas and makes them more likely to be dealt with. 

• What is being done about shoplifting. Very often it is too expensive for the police to arrest and interview offenders, but they are still summoned to court and dealt with by the court system. The real issue though is drug abuse driving addicts to steal. So the police and other agencies are concentrating on dealing with that. 

• One coordinator had previously lived in the Thames Valley and felt they had a better system for communicating with the public. Hastings used the Alert system emails, Twitter and Facebook, and had recently recruited two new communications officers so communications should improve. Graham had certainly noticed an improvement in the last few days. 

• What are the rules about CCTV. It should only look into your own property. If it looks outside your property, people can ask for copies of the film and there are rules about registering it. For more information see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems- on-your-property/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems-on-your-property ; 

• Who do we contact if we have a problem with noise from barking dogs. See https://www.hastings.gov.uk/environmentalhealth/pollution/noise_concern/ ; 

5. Formal Business 

i. Chairs report 

Graham Crane (GC) gave the chair’s report included in Annex 1. 

ii. Treasurers report 

We had £973.40 in the bank. The accounts had been audited by HVA. 

iii. Election of committee 

Existing committee agreed to stand again and were elected with the same roles. 

Graham Crane – Chair Anthony McKenzie – Vice-Chair Julia Wells – Treasurer Secretary –tba Helen Dadswell – Committee member 

Graham reminded everyone that we could still co-opt further members and coordinators did not have to be on the committee to volunteer, and to contact him if anyone was interested in help or had any ideas to share. He thanked the committee for volunteering. 

iv. Appointment of auditors 

Taking advice from an accountant it was agreed we did not need an audit for such small deposits and low expenditure. 

6. Any other business – none 

7. Date and time of next meeting(s) 

The date of the next meeting would be circulated next summer. 

8. Close Graham thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting. 

Annex 1: Hastings and ST Leonards NHW Chairs Report November 2017 

Coordinators 

• We have now been set up nearly 4 and half years. So first I’d like to thank all the coordinators for their continuing support and the support you give to your communities as NHW coordinators. 

• We have about 93 verified coordinators on the Alert system. There are a few unverified that need to be investigated. Committee: 

• I’d like to thank the committee for their support. We wouldn’t be able to exist without their support. 

• It is worth mentioning that we urgently need more people for the committee to remain quorate. Police & Hastings Safety Partnership 

• I’d like to thank the police and the Hastings Safety partnership for their work keeping the town safe. This is both catching criminals but most importantly predicting and preventing criminal behaviour. This I hope makes us all feel safer. 

• I’d like welcome and thank our new Public Engagement Officer Lee Melbourne and John Whittington our HBC Community Safety Manager Badges, Leaflets & leaflets 

• I have a few NHW handbooks, Stay Safe Leaflets, NHW roundels and various other leaflets available, and we can get more if people need them. Please let me know if you want any. 

• I have been promised some street signs. If anyone wants any please let me know. Communications 

• We have gone over to a new system called Alert. Hopefully you are getting messages from NHW and the police via this system. 

• In addition, I have set up a Facebook page and a web page with useful links. 

• Keeping the distribution list up to date is an ongoing and difficult task. So please do make sure your contact details are up to date or we will lose contact with you. This is particularly important if you change email address. Recruitment: One of our main aims is to recruit more members, volunteers and street coordinators. So if you know anyone who is interest please let me know. 

Graham Crane Chair Hastings and St Leonards NHW Tel: 07889 704824 Email: hastingsandsl.nhw@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hastings.St.Leonards.Neighbourhood.Watch/ Web site: https://sites.google.com/site/hastingsandstleonardsnhw/ National NHW: http://www.ourwatch.org.uk/ 

Annex 2: Hastings and St Leonards Neighbourhood Watch – Key Contacts 

Name Phone Mobile Role/Organisation Email Graham Crane 01424 446351 07889 704824 Hastings & St Leonards NHW hastingsandsl.nhw@gmail.com Julia Wells 07770 525918 Treasurer Hastings & St Leonards NHW julia72003@aol.com Anthony McKenzie 01424 435744 Vice Chair Hastings & St Leonards NHW anthony.mackenzie@aims.co.uk Helen Dadswell 01424 715370 07760199884 Committee Member Hastings & St Leonards NHW helendadswell@aol.com John Wright 01444 247368 07917 385213 Chairman Sussex NHW john.w.wright@btinternet.com Derek Pratt 01293 418164 07726 730562 Deputy Chairman Sussex NHW derek.pratt@btconnect.com John Wittington 01424 451438 0771 0854658 HBC Community Safety Manager JWhittington@hastings.gov.uk Colin Fitzgerald 01424 451066 Councillor & Chair of the Safer Hastings Partnership cllr.colin.fitzgerald@hastings.gov.uk 

To contact Hastings police’s new organisation please see http://www.sussex.police.uk/hastings/ where it says email: hastings@sussex.pnn.police.uk and by telephone: 01273 404934 . Use 999 for an emergency and 101 for non-emergencies. Useful Links: https://sites.google.com/site/hastingsandstleonardsnhw/ https://www.facebook.com/Hastings.St.Leonards.Neighbourhood.Watch/

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