Rochdale police column: How the police and community can address issues in Milnrow and Newhey

Inspector Robert MacGregor, of the Rochdale East Neighbourhood Policing Team, on what the police are doing to tackle local issues across the borough.

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We asked for residents of Milnrow and Newhey to complete a survey recently which asked questions about safety, the community, and perceptions of crime in the area.

We had 492 responses to that survey in four days which has given us a good understanding of the issues and feeling in the area.

Some of the responses were as expected, and others were surprising, but all will be extremely helpful for the neighbourhood officers covering the villages to identify areas where there is work to be done.

The survey covers quite a few interesting points and I want to share the results with you here. I covered half the points in last week's column and this is other half.

• Last week's column: www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/128081/rochdale-police-column-response-to-milnrow-and-newhey-crime-survey

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One of the questions in the Milnrow and Newhey survey asked residents, ‘How could Milnrow and Newhey be a better place to live?’.

Rather than try and summarise every answer, the word cloud below illustrates the recurring themes.

Given the context of the survey asking about crime, it was not a surprise that police featured heavily in the answers. Usually this comment was made in relation to wanting more visible presense of police, but I was a little surprised by how regularly the tram was mentioned as an issue, as this has not been a major issue which has flagged up in our own data.

I will do some research in to how many incidents are being reported at or around the Metrolink and what we can do in relation to it. We have a Forcewide Travelsafe unit who will assist at stations around Greater Manchester if requested, so I will make contact and request their assistance.

A request for increased police patrols has come up in every public meeting I have been in, and I know that from the outside it seems a simple solution and one that should be possible to implement immediately, but it is more complicated than that and this is not due simply to a lack of resources.

Before I go further, I should make clear that police officers, both neighbourhood PCs and response PCs do patrol the area every day. I accept that you may not regularly see police out on patrol, but the truth is if I had a PC on my team simply wandering around the area in order to be seen with no other purpose, then I would be very unhappy because patrol is an incredibly important part of what we do and there is a science behind it.

A neighbourhood officer’s patrols are not done at random; they are mapped out according to crime data and hotspots. These patrols may be on foot or in a vehicle – this is dependent on the nature of the crime we are seeking to reduce.

You may not see police down your road or near your workplace but that is likely to be because your road is not a crime hotspot, or the area you work in already has a large number of other law-abiding people who act as a visible deterrent.

Of couse, it is also possible that you simply did not see the officer on patrol when they went past, either because you were doing something else, or you were not looking out of your window at 4am when the patrol plan indicates your road is at the greatest risk of crime.

Last week we held a neighbourhood policing training day. I asked the neighbourhood officers a similar question to the one posed to residents – ‘What matters to you the most?’

Again, I have summarised the answers in a word cloud:

In the residents’ survey, police were the biggest issue raised that could make their area a better place; in the neighbourhood team’s survey, the community were what mattered most to them.

I know that is a simple observation, but I find it encouraging that, in spite of the difficulties, the police and community still place great value on each other.

I am very proud of the work that the neighbourhood officers do and I consider myself very lucky to have such a brilliant group working on the neighbourhood I am responsible for. Each of them is an encyclopedia of their beat.

If I ask the Milnrow and Newhey PC or PCSO about a person who lives on their area they pause for a moment before reeling off a background, previous crimes, and a family tree. Whilst they will have the occasional gripe or vent (who doesn’t?), they remain positive in the face of some shocking abuse – both physical and verbal, extremely long (often unpaid) hours, and seeing and doing things that nobody should have to.

Above all else, they have chosen to be neighbourhood officers because they care about their community. I think this is something which is often forgotten. These officers would be a valuable asset to other neighbourhood teams and to other departments in the police. One of my responsibilities is to support these incredibly skilled individuals so that they want to continue working in this community.

A couple of months ago I spoke to one of my neighbourhood PCs and asked them if they had seen something which had been posted on their area’s social media discussion page. They hadn’t: they had deleted social media because the criticism was becoming too discouraging. I thought this was a shame.

That same week every PC on the team voluntarily swapped to work night shifts to try and deal with the vehicle crime spike in the area. This can sound routine, but like everyone, these officers have partners and children, and telling families that you have volunteered to work a night shift to try and help the community puts those relationships under strain. Yes they are paid, and yes they have chosen to do the job, and none of them ask for praise for it – but I admire the sacrifice these officers make to try and protect the community to the best of their ability.

After the nights had been worked, I looked at social media and saw a number of comments regarding the crime spike. These comments descended in to criticism of local officers being ‘useless… lazy… not caring’.

Like most police – I am totally unbothered by the vitriol that criminals shout at me, but when they come from the people you are trying to help, they hit hard. As I read the comments, I was suddenly grateful that my neighbourhood PC had left social media.

This occasional casual negativity and criticism ties in with the final question that I wanted to cover before concluding.

The majority of respondents thought there was a significant increase in burglary, vehicle crime, and anti-social behaviour in Milnrow and Newhey. I can hear the reaction to this already, but there has not been a year on year increase in any of these types of incidents in the area over the last 12 months, let alone a significant increase.

We experienced a spike in vehicle crime in December which declined in January which we highlighted at the time. 

The increase in CCTV, doorbell video, and social media use has its benefits, but it is also whipping up alarm as every crime is mentioned and discussed at length, leading to a seemingly endless stream of offences.

The reality is that there are not more offences now than there were last year, but social media means you become aware of more of them. Unfounded panic on social media risks scaring people out of living in the area, and scaring people from going out in the neighbourhood.

If this happens, then as people leave, and residents withdraw inside due to this unfounded fear, we will risk making the area much more appealing to the would-be criminals and a crime issue will become a self-fulfiling prophecy.

The feedback in this survey has the potential to be really useful to us all. I recognise that people feel they are unsafe after dark, and that crime is increasing. I do not think the police’s role is to focus entirely on these perceptions but at the same time I realise that these perceptions can have negative consequences.

We will do more to highlight the good work that is happening in the community. We will put greater effort in to understanding the local issues affecting you, and begin regular surveys to identify these issues. We will improve our communication about what we are doing in the area, and we will be honest when things go wrong. We will focus on ‘signal crimes’ which lead to anxiety in the area and increase our interaction on local social media groups so that we can contribute and listen where discussions about the area are happening.

In return, I have to ask of the community that you also play a role in this.

Whilst CCTV of crime is posted readily, I am increasingly concerned that people are more interested in having their footage seen widely than considering the ongoing risk that these criminals could post and informing the police so that we can do something about it.

Milnrow and Newhey are beautiful villages. When I have been out on patrol, I have met a lot of residents who are friendly and positive, people who make a positive difference to the area by volunteering – whether litter picking, or working in a charity shop.

One of the other statistics from the survey was that over 80% of residents do not do anything on a monthly basis to make their area a better place. I would love for that to increase, and imagine what the area would be like if we could harness that potential.

One way of contributing to making your area a better place is recruiting now. The Milnrow and Newhey Street Watch launched on 1 June – their objective is to build closer links in the community.

If you care enough to post on social media about the issues in the area, I hope you will care enough to be part of making a difference to address those issues.