Spelthorne Partnership Assembly Questions for Inspector Walton

i)      Lower Sunbury Residents Association

Question

It seems from recent experience that it may no longer be a requirement for motor cycles and scooters to have effective silencers.  If, on the other hand, it is still the law, which organisation is responsible for enforcing it and how can it be made more effective in ensuring that contravening vehicles are removed from the road?

Response

All motor vehicles for use on the road must be fitted with a silencer and this is tested as part of an MOT.  If a vehicle does not have a silencer fitted then if stopped by police it could result in a fine or the vehicle being given a regulation notice to not be used until the fault is fixed.  The vehicle would not be seized or impounded based on this fault along unless the vehicle was stopped again with the prohibition notice in place.  Our limited resources are directed in line with threat/harm/risk and demand for service prioritising emergencies over other matters.  Where an officer observes this or any moving traffic offence then I would expect them to deal with the matter, unless committed on a more serious issue/incident.

ii)      Question from Ashford Resident

Question

How does Inspector Walton respond to the fact that for some months now the Crime Rate website has claimed that

a)           Ashford is the most dangerous medium—sized town in Surrey.

b)           The most common crimes in Ashford are violence and sexual offences.

Response

I responded to a similar question via email in May, I am using the quotes from this previous email.

Overall in Spelthorne, Ashford is joint third with Stanwell for most reported crime with Staines and Sunbury first and second.  I'm not entirely sure where you have your data to say Ashford is the most dangerous town in Surrey as this is not correct, but I'm happy to look at your source for this.  Certainly when you look at violent crime this is down nearly 10% on last year and we have the highest crime detection rate in the county of Surrey.  Overall report crime is slightly up on last year by just over 1% and again our crime detection rate is up.  To help I have attached a heat map showing recorded crime in Spelthorne over the past 28 days to demonstrate where this crime is happening.  Often our biggest issues are the perception of crime and the reality plus encouraging reporting of incidents so I can better direct my limited resources.  Reported ASB remains lower than last year however we know that people don't always report everything to us so if you have contacts in the community to spread the message that they need to report incidents otherwise we don't know always if there's a problem.

The website states the following:

datasets presented on CrimeRate.co.uk are based on data sources including Police Force incident reports, FOI requests, social media signals, and first-party data collection operations, among other sources. Data typically represents the trailing 12 month period or the most recent calendar year, when not otherwise noted. Metrics published may differ from government reports and other sources due to differences in data management processing.

It's my view that this data is therefore not up to date, official and difficult to define accuracy.  I note further down in the article it suggests Belfast is 52% safer !? which I find to be very inaccurate along with others.  I was happy to provide you with a more accurate numbers for the borough, it's a little more complicated for Ashford specifically but hopefully the heat maps I provided helped. 

Heat map provided in May 2024

Heat map for last 14 days up to 8 August 2024

We have seen very recent examples of false narratives being shared online to create a sense of fear or concern when the facts are completely different.  This website as discussed above uses inaccurate or in its own words "Metrics published may differ from government reports and other sources due to differences in data management processing" which basically means it may manipulate data through its processing.  I therefore would not trust this source.

iii)   Question from Ashford Resident

Question

Persons are riding e-bikes in Ashford and along the A30 with full face coverings causing disruption to pedestrians and motorists. They are jumping traffic lights weaving in and out of vehicles, spitting on cars and when challenged become threatening. When trying to contact the police it takes forever should this be an automatic 999 call or not ? What are the police doing to stop this antisocial behaviour? Thank you

Response

In relation to when to dial 999, this is for emergencies so if the crime was happening right in front of you I.E. you see an E-bike go by with the rider wearing a balaclava riding dangerously then dial 999.  If this is after the event then you have multiple reporting options some of which you may find quicker than others.  These include online reporting via our websitewww.surrey.police.uk, direct messaging to any of our social media sites on Facebook or Instagram or dialling 101.  These reporting streams do not get the same priority as 999 so can take longer but this is to be expected.

In past three months we have seized over ten E-bikes/E-scooters as part of various operations with offenders charged.  We are planning further operations into this but as this type of vehicle use is also linked to more serious offences such as drug dealing these can take time to develop.  I want to ensure that when we deal with these individuals we look to catch them for as many offences as possible to maximise their punishment.  We are also continuing our education around what is legal/illegal use of E-scooters/E-bikes as there is still a lot of innocent purchases happening where the owner/parent does not understand what/where/how they can be used. 

iv)   Verbal comment to Cllr Sexton

I was collecting my prescription from Boots in Ashford today and asking the sales assistant why the shelves were empty I was told this was due to shop lifting.

Apparently, the same individual comes in each day and clears shelves and there is nothing the staff can do.

The police have been informed but they do not seem to be interested.  The police came into Boots today and when told about the issue said we will come back if we can.

My wife has also experienced shop lifting in the Co-op and Super Drug.

I am appalled by the lack of support offered to local  shop workers and that we are allowing this anti-social behaviour from just a few.

Ashford is already suffering with many shops closing, and it would be a shame to see even more closing.

Response

We have four reports of shoplifting from Boots since January and there are two different suspects so I fully believe that either there is a limited issue there or they are under reporting matters to us.   We have been out recently to Boots to collect CCTV for the most recent incidents and their system is not up to an acceptable standard with no staff fully trained on how to provide us with the evidence bar the manager. All these recent offences were reported after the fact (sometimes hours later) therefore when we attend we are relying on evidence given the suspects will have long since left. 

We have a similar issue with reporting from other shops in Ashford including Co-op and Superdrug.  To combat this we have instituted a business watch in Ashford which is bringing together the shops in the town on a regular basis to discuss their issues and share information.  We are also active with the regional management in these shops to push them to improve their security and evidence gathering.  Reported ASB remains lower than the last two years and we still are completing on going work targeting local drug dealing.  It is important that shops/residents report crime/ASB to us so that I can ensure the right areas are targeted.