Bike marking keeps Christmas presents safer

THIS year has got off to a busy start for your Wellington Neighbourhood Policing Team. During January we saw 286 calls made to the police via 101 and 999 which related to Wellington.

Officers from the team held several bike marking events during January in a bid to securely mark any new bikes received by lucky individuals as Christmas presents. We’re pleased to say that while thefts of pedal cycles have increased in neighbouring towns like Taunton and Bridgwater in recent months, Wellington has not seen any increase at all. This doesn’t mean we can let our guard down, though. We will continue to offer our free bike marking service and we would also advise all members of the public to ensure that their bikes are always locked and secured whenever they are left, be this in a shed or garage at home or at work/school premises, or when left unattended anywhere else.

During January officers listened to concerns raised by members of the public across Wellington and carried out speed checks and enforcement in areas most complained about. These areas include Mantle Street, Station Road, Pyles Thorne and Sylvan Road. Throughout the month we’ve promoted Community Speed Watch and are keen to work with the public to tackle the issue of speeding motorists in all communities. Members of the public who are interested in working with us on a community speed watch scheme in their area should contact any officer from the team.

A national Neighbourhood Policing Week ran from Monday, January 17. This was to recognise and celebrate the vital work neighbourhood policing teams like your Wellington Team do all year round to serve their communities, keep them safe and to tackle the issues that matter most to members of the public. During this week we posted a ‘day in the life’ type account of what our officers got up to each day on our Facebook Page. We received some really positive feedback from all areas of our communities with people commenting that they didn’t know or realise that our working days are so varied and that we got involved in dealing with so many different things.

The team said goodbye to PC 4448 Sara Norman in January. Having been successful in a recent promotion process, Sara has now taken up the role of Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant in Bridgwater. Sara’s vacancy is to be filled by PC Toby Hatchard, a patrol officer in Bridgwater, who will be joining the team later this month.

Police Sgt Daniel Bishop 3258

Neighbourhood Police Sergeant for Wellington