Police Activity Newsletter - Issue 4

POLICE, CRIME & ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR UPDATE JULY 2020 - SPECIAL EDITION THE WEEKEND AHEAD The reopening of the hospitality industry this coming weekend coincides with events that could create challenges for policing.

Many football fixtures in the resumed leagues are being televised and this is the case for Bristol City vs Cardiff at 3pm on Saturday 4th July. As many pubs and bars will reopen on the same day, it is likely that many people will want to meet with friends and watch the football together. For the police, City vs Cardiff would

usually be graded as high risk, given the clubs rivalry and history of disorder at past fixtures. It is hoped that Cardiff supporters wanting to watch the match will do so at home but should any travel to Bristol, issues could arise.

This would also have been St Paul’s carnival weekend and whilst a digital event is being arranged, any unofficial events arranged to mark carnival weekend will need to be monitored and policed.

THE POLICING OPERATION When special occasions of events seem likely to bring increased demand for policing, usual resource levels are supplemented to increase operational capability.

In Bristol City Centre, this happens to some extent every Friday and Saturday evening

through Operation Brio, where officers normal late shifts are dropped back by a few hours to effectively double the number of officers patrolling between 10pm and 2-3am. This coming weekend those arrangements will be in place, but officer numbers will be

further boosted by public order trained officers being deployed specifically to police the night time economy. There will also be mounted officers patrolling the city centre and other specialist resources deployed close by so they can further support the policing operation should their attendance be required. This will include dog handlers, road policing units and firearms officers.

There will be oversight from a dedicated command team to ensure coordination of available resources.

SPECIALIST ROLES WITHIN OUR TEAM Complementing the local Policing team PC Patrick Quinton and PC Neil Cutler both have specialist roles that complement the local Policing team. Patrick works collaboratively with Bristol City and South Gloucestershire council as a Taxi Compliance officer to ensure that taxi’s are safe and regulated. This is a key role, particularly with the night time economy reopening and the consequential increased

demand for taxi’s. You will most likely see him on his police bike with his high visibility bike helmet so come and say hello. PC Neil Cutler is the licensing officer for Central Bristol.

He has been working tirelessly with licensed premises over the last few months to ensure that they are safe and covid compliant when they reopen on July 4th.

In his role, he acts as a police representative working collaboratively with the local council and the neighbourhood enforcement team, venues, SIA and door safe companies.

If you have any licensing queries, he would be happy to help.

SUPPORTING NIGHT TIME ECONOMY

BID SUPPORT

The police use a variety of different tactics to ensure the night time economy is safe for visitors. Here are some of the following methods we use:

Dogs – The Police dog units

The reopening of restaurants and bars on the 4th July will start to see some of the new normal return to the city. The Bristol City Centre BID Safeguarding Marshals, Martin and Winston, will be on duty from 10pm to 4pm on Friday and Saturday.

RPU – The Roads Policing Unit

With the introduction of the new BID police officer, Gareth Ayers, the aim is to strengthen this safety presence. To enable this, the BID are introducing an APP called I Auditor. This will allow team members to share instant reports for the appropriate responses.

This could be graffiti for our dedicated Street Cleansing Team or criminal offences, which the police would need to investigate. Any information gathered is updated to a central system with all details and any photos or video footage available for tasking.

Op Brio – A night time economy

operation which involves highvisibility policing and responding to police calls. This is a dedicated unit that is in addition to the local response units attending 999 calls.

Op Balsa – An earlier night time

economy operation run by the Bristol Central Neighbourhood team prior to Op Brio. This involves the local team being out in the community, engaging with the public to promote safety.

Mounted – The Police horses are

often on patrol during the night and are helpful to deter criminal activity.

patrol with specially trained dogs that can help in a wide variety of tasks. Police dogs are trained to locate people, drugs, firearms and explosives as well as helping in public order situations. help to reduce the amount of drink drivers on the roads. They utilise number plate recognition and local intelligence to identify offenders and to make the road network safer.