In this month’s column by Doncaster East Neighbourhood Police Inspector Alison Carr she begins by telling us two new officers have joined her team, replacing two others who have moved on to take up roles elsewhere in the force.
Inspector Carr writes:
“I hope you are well and keeping safe.
“During the last month I have lost two members of staff; one to the off-road bike team and the other to be one of our traveller liaison officers. Both officers will still be providing support and assistance to Doncaster East. They have been replaced by PC Gavin Wilson and PC Simon Lovell. They are both are experienced officers. PC Wilson is now the officer for Thorne and PC Lovell is the officer for Armthorpe.
“We continue to be busy dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour. The neighbourhood teams – the East Neighbourhood Team included – are heavily involved in dealing with the reports of COVID-19 regulation breaches. The reports go to a central team based at Doncaster College Road Police Station where they are risk assessed and given a RAG rating. The highest level is red; this requires a response both from the police and council departments. Yellow are medium risk; these reports are visited by the police. Green is the lowest level and we attend as many as we can. We did see a drop in the number of crimes being reported after the government imposed the restrictions. As time is going on, the number of crimes reports are steadily increasing.
“The ‘lockdown’ has highlighted a number of addresses where we suspect criminal activity is taking place. The majority of people are abiding by the government regulations, making it easier to spot addresses who are not. We have executed a couple of warrants already and will be completing more over the next few weeks. We are all aware of ongoing problems with nuisance motorbikes and know there has been an increase in reports during the lockdown. We do receive a lot of support from the SYP Off-Road Bike Team. They are a force resource. The number of riders has been increased on a temporary basis to try and assist. It is an issue across the force, not only in Doncaster.
“Unfortunately, we are not yet able to resume our community engagements events. We will hold question and answer sessions via the Doncaster East Neighbourhood Facebook page. We will advertise the events on our Facebook page.
“With regard to specific issues relevant to local communities in the North East of Doncaster, I have provided some details below about crime and incidents, which have occurred during the month of April 2020.
“In April, in Thorne and Moorends there were 112 crimes reported. We saw a large reduction in the number of burglaries both residential and commercial being reported. We recently executed a warrant at an address on Marshlands Road. An amount of cannabis was recovered. Officers arrested one person at the scene and a second has also been interviewed. The investigation is still ongoing. There were 53 reports of anti-social behaviour. The highest number of reports were connected to nuisance neighbour, rowdy/inconsiderate and nuisance vehicle complainants. The majority of these were related to breaches of COVID regulations.
“Stainforth and Barnby Dun saw an increase of five crimes reported during April. There were nine burglaries reported. The burglaries were of six houses and three sheds. The number of reports about anti-social behaviour also increased to 23. There has been an increase in the number of incidents with rowdy/inconsiderate behaviour and nuisance vehicles. We have given drivers/riders warning notices for using vehicles in anti-social behaviour and seized a number of vehicles being driven without the correct documentation.
“In Hatfield, the number of crimes reported was reduced by 42 crimes. The number of residential burglaries reported was five, this is the same as last month. There were two houses and three sheds broken into.
“Problems around the Moto services complex at Junction 5, where the new link road is being built, continue. The number of vehicles being broken into has reduced but we are getting a lot more reports of nuisance vehicles driving all over the site. Colleagues from our Force resources, including Road Traffic and the Off-Road Bike Team, are continuing to assist by providing extra patrols in the area. We are in regular contact with the businesses on the site.
“You can find out more about the police activity occurring in the East of Doncaster by signing up to SYP Alerts. Just register via our website (www.southyorks.police.uk) the site will give you further details about the alert system or ask one of the team if you see them around. Alternatively, you could just follow us at Doncaster East NHP or find information on our website page.”