Business Crime Strategy – Police & Crime Commissioner’s Consultation

(The following is a notice put out on 18th September 2015 by the Police Crime Commissioner to Neighbourhood Watch members on the OWL (Online Watch Link) system).

Anyone involved in trade and commerce (whether a leader, employee or a special interest) is invited to feed back their views on the Police and Crime Commissioner’s new Business Crime Strategy for Hertfordshire.

A consultation has begun on Commissioner David Lloyd’s new plan that sets out how business crime will be tackled.

Crime against businesses currently makes up a fifth of all recorded crime and has a wider impact on the local economy as well as on individuals – financially, as well as emotionally.

To ensure the Business Crime Strategy meets the needs of Hertfordshire, the Commissioner would appreciate feedback and comments on the draft plan – this will shape the final document and create a workable plan that tackles this crime.

You can view the strategy and complete the survey form at: http://www.hertscommissioner. org/public-consultation

You can also comment on the strategy, without using the pre-formatted online form, by email to . police.uk

The consultation closes on 30th September 2015.

If you need to reply regarding this message, click on this email address: . uk

Regards,
David Lloyd Police and Crime Commissioner
.

Safer Neighbourhood Team – New Sergeant

Sgt Stephen (Steve) Hynes has been appointed Sergeant of the Welwyn Hatfield North Safer Neighbourhood Team, based at Welwyn Garden City, replacing Sgt Malcolm Dey imagewho has moved to another team.

Most of us who are subscribers to the OWL (Online Watch Link) system will know of Steve Hynes, who has regularly kept us fully informed of the activites of his former team in Welwyn Hatfield South with his virtual diary of a ‘day in the life of a community police team’.

Steve has expanded upon his life-story on OWL today, and related how his career started as a bobby on the beat, successfully moving upwards through many echelons of the Police Force, including some serious crime departments, back to the job he loves the most – which is working with, and for, the community.

Welcome Steve. We look forward to seeing you strutting the  sidewalks of Welwyn with PCSO Rob Taylor watching your back!

It’s a dangerous place – you can get tripped up by marauding senior citizens as they wield their walking sticks in a threatenng manner; you can get driven off the narrow pavement into the road by speeding mobility vehicles but, if you get your timing right, you might just find yourself enjoying a cup of coffee whilst learning what life is ‘really’ about from the ‘regulars’ at the Tuesday morning Community Cafe in the St Mary’s New Church House.

To discover at the outset how satisfied we all are with our local policing service, and to understand our priorities, Sgt. Steve has announced his arrival by drawing up a Survey which has been sent out today to all OWL subscribers.

So, if you are not already a subscriber to OWL, you are encouraged to sign on either by following the guidelines on www.owl.co.uk, or perhaps more simply by sending an email with your name and address details to either of the following who will set it up for you:

, or

In this way you will be able to take part in Steve’s Survey and indirectly contribute to the future policing and safety of Welwyn’s community.

For an update of the structure of our local Safer Neighbourhood Team go to http://snt.herts.police.uk/Teams.aspx?TeamID=B01

PC1467 Ben Satchfield – resignation shock

PC Ben SatchfieldIn an email message sent this evening, 1st September 2015, to all volunteer members of the Drivesafe teams, for whom he was the local Organiser and Adviser, we have learned with great regret that PC 1467 Ben Satchfield has announced his resignation from the Police Force :

“I am writing to inform you that I will be leaving as your Drivesafe Volunteer Advisor.

After nearly 9 years in the job I have resigned and will be leaving the Police on 16th September 2015. This is due to me having other business interests outside of this job which I will pursue.

I have worked closely with a number of you over the past couple of years so please email me individually if you wish and I will happily explain more.

You will be advised of your new Advisor in due course. I trust they will organise a Christmas BBQ or other social and I hope to be able to attend if this is the case.

Regards,

Ben

PC 1467 Ben Satchfield | Neighbourhood PC – Welwyn Hatfield North SNT | Welwyn Hatfield

Everybody in Welwyn remembers Ben’s arrival as Neighbourhood Team Co-ordinator for Welwyn, Digswell and The Ayots, initially with two PCSO’s working for him.

He arrived like a blast of fresh air; young, lean and hungry, and very very tall, and he took an immediate and earnest interest in just about every activity in Welwyn. Ben was tireless in the way he attended and supported village meetings, not just to ‘be seen’, but to speak to us all. Whenever he could, he would switch his shift pattern, or work extra hours in order to respond to an Invitation.

At public meetings he was well informed, well prepared, and impressively articulate. As a result he was always well liked and well respected. He regularly attended the Tuesday Community Cafe where all the ladies loved him!

Ben was also very good at booking those who chose to ignore zig-zags on the zebra-crossing when parking in the High Street.

In the past two years, following a reorganisation within the Welwyn Hatfield police, Ben moved on as our village policeman to become a leading member of the Welwyn Hatfield based Safer Neighbourhood Team, and we read about his many successes in that role in the local Press.

Ben will be remembered locally for many reasons, not least by one of my grand-daughters who was prompted to say ‘hello’ to this lofty policeman when he called upon me one afternoon to discuss Neighbourhood Watch matters. We had had a well-loved Golden Retriever at home named ‘Ben’ for very many years, and on retiring to our kitchen while I talked with PC Ben Satchfield, my grand-daughter commented to my wife – “Ben is a funny name for a man!”

During his time in the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Welwyn Hatfield, Ben Satchfield has been the organiser and administrator of the very successful Drivesafe Project, whereby Police volunteers are trained, formed into teams, and then authorised to man speed cameras to deter speeding in and around Welwyn Hatfield.

Welwyn has three Drivesafe teams of its own, and although we did have some early administrative problems to do with equipment access, and long-winded and archane reporting procedures, these were not of Ben’s making, and he worked with great patience to get things sorted out amicably. Ben encouraged a Team spirit which was fortunately not entirely wrecked by his plan to have a BBQ at the Stanborough Police Headquarters on a freezing winter’s night. It is clear from the concluding comment in his resignation letter that, in the BBQ sense, he is a glutton for punishment!

Following the recent well constructed Survey of our vews on the operation of the Drivesafe Project, team members will all now hope that Ben Satchfield’s departure at this stage will not hamper its continuing success. Many people in Welwyn will echo our wishes for every success in Ben’s new business venture, accompanied by our thanks for helping to keep us safe.

Thanks Ben.

Community Safety – Police & Crime Commissioner’s Plan

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, Mr David Lloyd has just published his First Draft Plan. It is now available for public Consultation preparatory to presentation in its final form to the Home Secretary.

In his Introduction Mr David Lloyd states:

As part of my job I need to produce a Police and Crime Plan – a document which lays out plans for policing and crime issues in Hertfordshire and explains how the County’s Police and Crime Budget will be spent.

Click on the Police Commissioner’s Draft Plan to read the draft Plan in full, and follow the instructions to respond by March 8th 2013.

 

Community Safety – DriveSafe teams formed

We reported recently that our Community Officer PC Ben Satchfield was to give a  Speedwatch Presentation at the Civic Centre on Monday evening 28th January. This was a well attended meeting attracting positive responses from the audience.

Ben reports in his February 2013 Safer Neighbourhood Newsletter as follows in this extract:

Dear Residents,

I write to you on the evening of a popular meeting which I have held in partnership with Welwyn Parish Council at the Civic Centre. I presented Community Speed Watch to a group of local residents and am pleased to report that 12 volunteers have come forward to help with this community initiative. Community Speed Watch involves local residents using the Speed Indication Device in areas of speeding concern, whereby they will monitor speeds and send warning letters to those over the limit. The device flashes up a driver’s speed and also helps to reduce vehicle speeds when it is being used. Whilst I now have a Digswell scheme and a Welwyn scheme, additional volunteers can be added so contact me if you wish for more information.

PC 1467 Ben Satchfield       

Neighbourhood Team Co-ordinator – Welwyn Rural Team             Tel: 101

Community Safety – Speedwatch Initiative

On Monday evening 28th January 2013 your local Police Neighbourhood Team, led by PC Ben Satchfield, is holding a short (approx. 30 minutes) meeting in the Welwyn Civic Centre at 7 p.m to brief residents of Welwyn on the Speedwatch initiative they are introducing. The Speedwatch initiative encourages residents to form local teams of six, to measure and, if necessary, report excessive road user speeds.

The expectation is that, at the very least, the very presence of ‘official’ monitors will help curb excesses.

Welwyn residents frequently worry about the apparently excessive speed of traffic on Welwyn’s roads. To take examples, concerns have often been raised about the B197 as it passes along the Welwyn by-pass, through Oaklands & Mardley Heath, to Woolmer Green. Concerns are also raised about the Welwyn Link Road B656 where the speed of traffic coming from Codicote around the Fulling Mill Lane roundabout is very often hazardous, not only at that point but at the access points to the Danesbury Estate too. And similar concerns are frequently expressed about many points in Digswell village.

Our Police Neighbourhood Team Co-ordinator, PC Ben Satchfield, is now offering residents a chance to form local Speedwatch Teams of 6 volunteers each, to monitor and measure these apparently excessive speeds for themselves.

All the necessary training and equipment will be provided by the Police Neighbourhoood Team, and PC Ben Satchfield will explain how the teams will be organised and controlled.

Are you a concerned resident – concerned enough to help do something as a Speedwatch team member and make Welwyn safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike?

If you are, then please go along on Monday evening 28th January at 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre and see how you might help.

And tell your friends and neighbours.

If you need your community, then your community certainly needs you……