Force keeps pledge to listen and hails successes against criminals

POLICE have scored a series of dramatic successes against criminals in South Yorkshire as a result of better co-operation with the public in the past year.

Last April the force made a big shift in policy by establishing monthly public meetings across the county to give the public a chance to express their concerns and pass on information about crime but also as a forum to hear what action officers and other bodies involved in tackling crime take in response.

One of the most high profile successes as a result of information from the Partners and Community Together meetings was the seizure of 1,000 cannabis plants, worth about 289,000, from a police operation in Rossington, Doncaster.

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But many others have also taken place as a result, including work to tackle anti-social behaviour such as nuisance motorcyclists.

Each of the county's Safer Neighbourhood Teams holds its own PACT meeting each month, with a total of about 800 people turning up on average across the whole county.

The work has been so successful the force is now looking at ways to extend the scope of the meetings and in Sheffield a series of junior PACT meetings have already taken place, to provide a forum for those in the age group frequently blamed for anti-social behaviour.

Work is also going on to try to provide a form of "virtual" meeting which would allow people unable to attend the evening events to contribute.

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Chief Insp Eddie Murphy said the change was a return to the tradition of police listening closely to what concerned communities, rather than being guided by meeting performance targets.

"We needed to get back to proper engagement. The public cannot direct us on everything, but they can on our 'down time', towards things which will make the most impact towards the community.

"It allows the community to say they would like us to do 'this'."

Police believe the information they have received from people attending the meetings has contributed to recent falls in crime rates, increases in detections and the success they have had in tracking down criminals who have profited from crime so their assets can be seized.

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Most criminals live in the communities where they offend and that means others often have information.

The meetings can also have a less direct impact, however, by exposing how different organisations and agencies can improve their influence.

In Doncaster, a magistrate and prosecution lawyer were asked to attend one meeting to hear complaints from the public about the limitations of bail conditions set for those awaiting prosecution for prostitution.

Conditions historically set allowed the defendants back into parts of the town's red light district, to the annoyance of residents.

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The meeting resulted in the exclusion area being extended and Chief Insp Murphy said: "Without that meeting it would never have changed because it seemed the police were being draconian in banning someone from a sizeable area of the town.

"The fact is, it is what the community had asked for because the previous arranges allowed people to stay on one side of a road without being arrested for breaching their bail conditions."

Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes said: "We want the community to see that my officers are approachable; after all we are here for them.

"Policing in South Yorkshire has changed. It's no longer about government targets, it's about what matters to residents and their communities. But we want the public to tell us what that is."