Dorset Police news site

Dorset Police, supported by the Police & Crime Commissioner, and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council addressed community concerns at an online public meeting and have committed to further driving forward improvements to help keep people safe and feel safe. 

The agencies held an online Facebook LIVE public meeting on Thursday 12 September 2024 to update the public on all the activity that has collectively been carried out over the summer to tackle criminality and make the area safe for residents, businesses and visitors.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Callaghan and Chief Superintendent Heather Dixey, BCP LPA Commander, were joined by Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner David Sidwick, BCP Council’s Director of Housing and Communities Kelly Deane, Community Safety Manager Tina Symington and Councillor Kieron Wilson, Portfolio holder for Housing and Regulatory Services, where they answered a range of questions ranging from anti-social behaviour, vehicle theft and associated joyriding to knife crime, violence against women and girls, drugs and fly-tipping.

For those who missed it, below is an overview of the updates provided on the online meeting:

Fears that Bournemouth is not safe

• Bournemouth is a safe place to live, work and visit.
• Unfortunately, crimes do and will occur and we know that this can leave people feeling unsafe.
• We acknowledge that any violent offence, knife crime or sexual offence is one too many and we understand the accumulative impact these types of offences have on our communities and how safe they feel.
• We have heard comments that there are stabbings and rapes every day in Bournemouth. This is not the case and in central Bournemouth most serious violent offences have reduced by 24 per cent from the previous year and serious sexual offences reduced by 10 per cent between April and July compared to the same time the previous year.

Lack of police visibility

• Over the summer Dorset Police stepped up beach patrols in Bournemouth and Poole to increase visibility as a proactive and preventative policing measure and to provide reassurance to the public.
• Officers actively targeted priority offenders in response to our own intelligence and information provided by the public.
• Officers worked with the RNLI and seafront rangers to create safer spaces on the beaches.
• Via the Community Safety Partnership, Dorset Police and BCP Council tackled repeat offenders in hotspot locations.
• Dorset Police uplifted six additional officers in the town centre over the summer months during periods of peak demand.
• Both agencies worked with local communities and businesses to minimise the impact of the ongoing protests and provide reassurance.

Lack of collaboration between agencies

• We can only keep people safe and help them feel safe by working together as a partnership and we would like to reassure the public that there is a huge raft of work taking place across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch.
• Dorset Police and BCP Council is part of the local Community Safety Partnership, which aims to prevent and reduce serious violent crime incidents through appropriate interventions, increased partner visibility and shared intelligence.
• Dorset Police, supported by BCP Council, ran its ongoing ‘Fireglow’ and ‘Nightjar’ operations, focusing on tackling ASB, violence, drugs, knife-related crime and VAWG offences.
• Police officers are continuing to work alongside a large number of teams at BCP Council, including CSAS Officers, to protect young and vulnerable people, while preventing violence, disorder and anti-social behaviour in the town.
• Dorset Police ran Operation Sandman, which saw increased patrols in Sandbanks where we have often seen issues with ASB.
• And very recently the Force launched Op Spotter, which is the name given to the targeting of prolific shoplifters in Bournemouth town centre.
• Bournemouth Town Team was formed in August 2023; a collaborative, multi-agency initiative involving Dorset Police, BCP Council and other partners to tackle issues across the town centre, including criminality and ASB, littering, illegal parking and licensing, while boosting engagement with residents, visitors, businesses and young people. Since its launch, the team has seen over 6,000 hours of visible foot patrols, 181 legislative breaches actioned, 77 alcohol seizures under Public Spaces Protection Order conditions, CSAS powers used 138 times and 62 support referrals made.

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)

• The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner previously secured Safer Street 5 funding, which BCP Council is utilising for a range of projects in Bournemouth town centre aimed at reducing violence against women and girls, such as the installation of new CCTV at Horseshoe Common and West Cliff; expansion of the existing voluntary sector night time community guardianship scheme for Bournemouth town centre; work with the universities and students to develop a student-led peer community guardianship scheme to cover the Lansdowne area.
• Dorset Police has worked with BCP Council to create safer spacers in night-time economy venues and on the beaches in the daytime, using beachfront rangers, CSAS officers the RNLI and their towers as key points of contact. This has already proven successful in enabling officers to arrest suspects quickly.
• We are supporting street pastor volunteers, who are there to support any vulnerable people.
• Both agencies have been working with universities to promote safer spaces and highlight ways students can stay safe and look after each other, this includes ahead of the forthcoming Freshers’ Week.
• Dorset Police has continued to run Op Vigilant patrols as part of Op Nightjar to identify suspects who pose a risk to women and girls.
• BCP Council and Dorset Police has been involved in running awareness training for staff working in the night-time economy venues. 
• Dorset Police is part of a national programme to improve the response it provides to victims of rape and sexual offences and their experience of the criminal justice process.

• The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner held a VAWG Conference this summer, designed to raise awareness in schools and educational establishments of violence against women and girls.
• The BCP Community Safety Partnership is dedicated to protecting the safety of women and girls in the BCP area, supporting and delivering a range of initiatives including the United Nation’s 16 Days of Activism; Sexual Violence Awareness Week; weekly women only drop-in services, a dedicated BCP Safe Bus and additional CCTV cameras in hotspot areas.
• BCP Council recently helped to deliver the BCP Unity Promise in Bournemouth town centre, delivering professional training to local businesses and services focused on creating a safer environment for women and girls. So far, 22 businesses have already signed up, with the initiative set to roll out across Christchurch and Poole in due course.

Targeting knife crime/drug crime/associated crime

• Dorset Police launched Op Track across BCP, a hot spot policing Government funded initiative to deliver enhanced foot patrols to tackle violence and disorder in areas with high levels of anti-social behaviour.  
• The Force ran 100 days of summer, which saw officers, PCSOs and BCP Council CSAS officers carry out dedicated foot patrols at key locations for 100 days to target ASB and criminality.
• Earlier this year the Clear, Hold, Build initiative was launched in Bournemouth town centre to focus on reducing the activity of organised crime to improve community safety and confidence in the police. It is a partnership project that has three delivery stages.
• Operation Shopkeeper was carried out to target prolific offenders, secure evidence and put them before the courts. This was really successful and led to a positive outcome rate of 42 per cent. Between November 2023 and June 2024 23 suspects in the BCP area were charged with 312 offences.
• The Community Safety Partnership’s Knife Crime Awareness campaign ran from 15 April – 15 June 2024, with a second round of events due to run from 16 September – 28 September. The campaign highlights the collaborative work taking place to address knife crime, using education and engagement to deter knife crime in our communities and stop young people from carrying knives.

Theft of motor vehicles/mopeds and associated joyriding

• Dorset Police takes all reports of vehicle crime seriously and we will consider all proportionate and available lines of enquiry in order to investigate reported incidents.
• We continue to monitor crime reports for patterns of offending and where we see an increase in reports in a particular area, local officers will respond with increased patrols in the vicinity.
• We will also proactively target known offenders who commit this type of crime using various means, including intelligence, to prosecute where possible.
• We would urge motorists to take a moment to consider the security in place for their vehicle. Where possible keep your vehicle parked in a garage or well-lit space and ensure the keys are kept somewhere safe and away from doorways or letter boxes. More crime prevention advice can be found here: Preventing car and vehicle theft | Crime Prevention | Dorset Police 
• Operation Motor is in place in response to the theft of high-value keyless vehicles with dedicated staff investigating offences to try and target the offenders and upstream criminals who organise vehicles to be stolen to order and resold, often out of county.

E-bikes and E-scooters riding irresponsibly

• We are aware of concerns relating to this and through neighbourhood patrols, in conjunction with CSAS officer we will be actively monitoring this and speaking to the individuals involved.
• The only e-scooters which can currently be used legally on public roads in Bournemouth and Poole are those provided by the Beryl e-scooter rental service. 
• BCP Council seafront staff are tackling irresponsible use of e-scooters across seafront promenades.

ASB

• Operation Relentless was launched to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) throughout Dorset and remind residents and visitors that the Force takes a tough approach on ASB.  
• We are committed to identifying patterns and locations of ASB in the county. By understanding the root causes of ASB, the Force can develop multi-agency action plans, including community engagement, to prevent and disrupt ASB early before it can take a grip on communities.
• We have been tackling antisocial behaviour across Dorset and on our coastline with initiatives such as ‘100 days of summer’ patrols in Weymouth and Bournemouth and ongoing operations in Bournemouth Gardens.

Fly-tipping

• Action on fly-tipping is taken to ensure communities can fully enjoy the place where they live and have pride in their neighbourhood.
• BCP Council is committed to tackling fly tipping and has contracted Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) to investigate offences and administer penalty notices on behalf of the council as appropriate.  
• Since April 2023 73 fly tipping penalty notices have been issued, with 15 issued in the last month alone.  
• Since April 2024, BCP Council has increased fines for fly tipping to the maximum of £1000, in line with Government legislation, showing a robust approach.

While Dorset is the eighth safest county in the country for crime, all agencies are aware that when serious violent and sexual incidents occur it can impact on how safe people feel.

We rely on our communities to tell us what is happening across the county and information received helps to inform the policing and council priorities, alongside targeted patrols. You can report matters to Dorset Police online via https://www.dorset.police.uk/ro/report/. Intelligence can be reported via the portal at https://www.dorset.police.uk/police-forces/dorset-police/areas/about-us/local-support-and-guidance/intelligence/ or via Crimestoppers. Matters can be reported to BCP Council via https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/contact-us/report

In addition, you can report locations where you feel or have felt unsafe and to identify the features on why that location made you feel unsafe via the national online tool StreetSafe: https://www.police.uk/pu/notices/streetsafe/street-safe/

If you missed the Facebook LIVE event and want to watch it back to find out more visit https://www.facebook.com/dorsetpolice/videos/833447828920317