Police Activity Newsletter - Issue 47

POLICE, CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR UPDATE 17 – 29 MARCH 2022

CRIME STATS Over the last two weeks there have been 408 crimes reported. A large proportion of these are thefts (116), followed by violence against the person (110).

ASB has been very low however we have had 54 public order incidents and 29 criminal damages recorded.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS (VAWG) Violence against women and girls is both a local force and a national policing priority. As we move through this year there will be more and more focus on this work and you may hear it more regularly referred to as VAWG. Avon and Somerset Police are very committed to making our area safe for women and girls. As part of that, each area now has a VAWG action plan to deliver services, actions and improvements to processes, to ensure that we make our city safe for both the day and night-time economy.

One element that the local police and Bristol City Centre BID are working on

together is a Safer Space programme where businesses sign up to be recognised as a safe space that provides shelter to the vulnerable.

In its early development, the programme looks at national best practices and delivery options and aims to focus on our levy payers to be our base for premises to be involved.

We would like to hear from offices, retail, hospitality, night time economy and other locations that would be keen to be involved to help us with the planning process, so please register your interest with the BID.

MULTIPLE COMMUNITY PROTECTION During summer 2021 there was a significant increase in violent assaults and robberies in Bristol city centre, several involving the use of weapons and threatening behaviour.

Many of these incidents have involved at least one young male suspect as part of a group using threats and/or violence against members of the public to separate them from their valuables.

entering the harbourside and city centre area.

One of these males breached the notice three times and was subsequently charged to court in March 2022. Upon sentencing, he received a 2-year Criminal Behaviour Order preventing him from entering this area between the hours of 6pm and 9am.

Victims have had their mobile phones, cash, Airpods, scooters and clothing stolen. The majority of the robberies have involved the offender(s) brandishing a knife.

Following the concerning reports, police issued multiple community protection notices to individuals involved in this criminality, preventing them from

INTRODUCING PCSO SUPERVISOR AARON FERRIES Hello, I am Aaron Ferries and I have been a uniformed PCSO based on the front line for nearly 9 years.

My main aim is to help the team and all of its officers grow as individuals and support them in gaining the experience required to help in the future.

Before joining Avon and Somerset Constabulary, I was a PCSO with Thames Valley Police. My experience lies within neighbourhood teams with good exposure to a variety of crime types.

Equally, I aim to drive our teams to ensure that we have a good level of safeguarding for all of the individuals that need it in our community.

During my time as a PCSO I have been a tutor for 6 years, this has given me a good grounding for my new role of PCSO Supervisor in Bridewell T3. My transition into the team has been smooth thanks to the great work the team is already doing.

I also would like to make sure that our partnership work is developing as much as possible. Although we already have a good level of engagement with partner agencies, I am hoping to work with them to ensure good intelligence lines and correct problem-solving approaches.

BRISTOL YOUTH STRIKE FOR CLIMATE MARCH On Friday 25th March an organised protest took place in Bristol by ‘Bristol Youth Strike for Climate’ to object against the proposed expansion of Bristol Airport.

The group had encouraged children and young people to walk out of education and join fellow strikers on College Green and was actively advertised and promoted on social media sites.

A previous well-known protest by the group took place in February 2020 when Greta Thunberg attended the city and made a speech to a record crowd. This previous event, which was largely peaceful, saw approximately 15,000 attendees and attracted national media attention.

The latest protest, in contrast, was attended by approximately 100 participants, much lower than expected.

The protest remained peaceful and commenced with some speeches at College Green, followed by a slow march around the city centre, St Augustine’s Parade, Horsefair, Broadmead, Castle Park, Baldwin Street and back to College Green.

The event passed without any significant issues and was largely managed and monitored by a team of neighbourhood Police Officers and PCSOs and Protest Liaison Officers adopting a friendly lowlevel approach.