We think that strengthening and improving local policing teams should be a priority because funding reductions and decision by senior people in Avon and Somerset have weaken local policing teams and connections between police and the communities they serve.
We agree with the PCC that ensuring Avon and Somerset Constabulary have the right people, right equipment and right culture should be a priority but would note that while CCTV is increasingly important in effective policing Avon and Somerset invest little or nothing in the network.
The Police working effectively with other agencies should be a priority but it appears to us that there is little coordination or pooling of funding with local government enforcement teams and that while the PCC took control of a number of BANES budgets including public protection there is little sign that this money has been spent in improving policing or public safety in BANES.
There are a number of ways in which the police and environmental protection service can use the powers of the Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 for instance in relation to aggressive begging and party houses but they need support from residents in the form of formal complaints and evidence gathering and there has been too little investment in improving or even publicising reporting systems. The use of any of these provisions requires close cooperation between various BANEs enforcement departments and the Police. However, we are now concerned that this may be undermined by manpower reductions in the policing of Bath and in particular the Anti Social Behaviour Unit. We now appear to be more reliant on BANES officers and the BID wardens in addressing anti-social behaviour than we are on the Police.
There are a number of ways in which the police and environmental protection service can use the powers of the Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 for instance in relation to aggressive begging and party houses but they need support from residents in the form of formal complaints and evidence gathering and there has been too little investment in improving or even publicising reporting systems. The use of any of these provisions requires close cooperation between various BANEs enforcement departments and the Police. However, we are now concerned that this may be undermined by manpower reductions in the policing of Bath and in particular the Anti Social Behaviour Unit. We now appear to be more reliant on BANES officers and the BID wardens in addressing anti-social behaviour than we are on the Police.