SIR;- On Monday afternoon local councillors will get the opportunity to question the inspector of West Leeds concerning the sharp rise in burglaries across the Calverley and Farsley Ward since the start of the year. It’s something I have been pushing on for some time.
When I was first elected in May and gained access to local crime figures, I was immediately drawn to this issues. Myself and Cllr Peter Carlill have persistently raised this and pushed for action in the Outer West Community Committee and at our regular community safety and PACT meetings since.
At our request the police have started to give us full year to date comparison data, as well as more detail on locations being targeted.
The fact is the issue has been across the ward including the Carr Hills, Calverley, Kirklees, Spring Banks, New Parks Farsley, Town Street, Rodley and the Westdales and Galloway Lane, Pudsey – as well as other areas. This cannot go on.
We have worked closely with the Local Neighbourhood Policing Team, who to their credit have always been helpful and proactive in hot spot areas to help people keep their homes safe. However, much of the operational strategy lies at a higher level.
We will be asking the senior officer what Burglaries being ‘a force priority’ means for the residents in our ward. We will ask what steps are being taken to tackle and reduce this happening, push for more patrolling in hot spot areas, and ask what we as a community can do to support the police in their work.
We would also like to suggest and explore the possibility of a Burglaries prevention workshop.
Ultimately supporting the police in their work and reducing crime will be determined by national policy.
It was encouraging yesterday to see the Chancellor follow through on the governments manifesto pledge and outline investment to support frontline policing levels across the country, which will see 13,000 more neighbourhood police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) on the streets.
We would encourage everyone to report burglaries, attempted burglaries and any other suspicious activity. If a crime is ongoing dial 999 immediately, but for non emergencies or if there is no immediate risk dial 101 or report on the live chat service which is often much quicker.
We will continue to work alongside the police and other agencies to reduce all types of crime and antisocial behaviour across the ward.
- Councillor Craig Timmins, Calverley & Farsley ward
Thank you for this Craig Timmins, I live in Pudsey and we have similar issues here. I have been attending the Pudsey Ward PACT (Police and Communities Together) meetings for several years.
If anyone living in Pudsey, Tyersal or Swinnow wishes to come along, our next meeting will be at 7pm at Pudsey Wellbeing Centre, Robin Lane, Pudsey, LS28 7BR on Wednesday 13th November.
Though this is not a political meeting members of the Labour Party always attend and are willing to help the public with any issues they may have and some of the Pudsey councillors have been attending meetings for the last year or so.
Glad to see a local Councillor taking the time to write about how active in the community they might be. When was the last time a Councillor wrote a letter?
Hopefully we will get a detailed report of this meeting with the Police on Monday.