INSPECTOR NICK PINKERTON
I am glad to have the opportunity to write about local policing and to introduce you to your local policing team. Runnymede Borough is served from Addlestone Police Office and from Staines Police Station. Staines is the Divisional Headquarters which houses CID and other specialist officers. At Addlestone, we have five rotas of about 15 officers and two sergeants each who provide 24/7 uniform response policing as the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT). These are the officers you see in marked police cars who are the first responders to incidents such as: burglaries, disorder and road traffic collisions.
Addlestone Police Office also houses the Specialist Neighbourhood Team (SNT) of PS Rob Betts, PC Paul Arrow and PC Sammi Halepota working with five Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). The team’s role is to deal with the chronic issues which need time and most often partnership work to resolve. For instance the team regularly deals with anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and safeguarding the vulnerable in their homes. The SNT carries out regular patrols and works with Runnymede Borough Council and the Community Safety Officer to develop long term solutions to local problems. We try our best to be proactive, to stop problems happening now and into the future.
You may have seen us making welfare checks related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fighting crime has always been central to policing, but increasingly we have a safeguarding responsibility. Often Runnymede officers are the first to come upon a situation that cannot be solved by an arrest alone. For example, we will supporting vulnerable adults identified at risk of cuckooing where criminals have taken over the victim’s address to sell drugs. In such circumstances, we will usually go to Court to obtain a Closure Order to prevent undesirable people from being in the property. We make sure that relevant experts from partners such as: Community Mental Health, Housing Associations and the local Council work with us to keep vulnerable people safe.
If you would like daily updates on what Runnymede officers are doing, to receive information to avoid scams and make yourself more secure, look up “Runnymede Beat” on Facebook and Twitter and also “In the Know” – https://www.intheknow.community/.
This year COVID regulations have led to more people being at home for longer. Burglars are consequently paying more attention to outbuildings and especially to garages and sheds with tools and bicycles being targeted so please remember to check your side gates, garages and sheds. By keeping these securely locked you can life much harder for criminals.
Runnymede Safer Neighbour Team wish all our residents a Happy New Year.