During April there were 284 calls to the police from members of the public relating to Wellington. This was down by almost 30 calls on the previous month.

Out of the total calls received, 38 related to reports of antisocial behaviour.

Youth ASB only factored in seven of these calls which is very pleasing for me as the policing sergeant for the area given the fact that children and young people across Wellington were on school holidays for two weeks during this period.

To receive just seven reports of youth ASB in a month which included a school holiday when reports of Youth ASB generally rise is quite frankly, remarkable.

I believe the reduction that we’re seeing in youth ASB across Wellington is partly down to the hard work and commitment the officers that make up Wellington Neighbourhood Policing Team.

These officers engage with the many young people across the town by regularly visiting schools, running mini police schemes, attending youth groups and meetings, being present at community events such as wacky Wednesdays, by raising money and identifying partner support to fund youth education projects like the Resilience Voyage Drug Education Bus and by spending time in areas of the town where young people are known to congregate, all of which has to be planned and carried out in and around all of their other policing commitments partnership work and any ongoing investigations.

With a significant increase of Youth ASB recently in neighbouring towns like Taunton and Bridgwater, as a police team it is very much our intention to continue to make time to engage with the Young People of Wellington and we have a number of exciting events and engagement activities planned throughout the summer months that will help us to further engage with young people.

In a bid to make ourselves more accessible to members of the public the team are now holding regular neighbourhood surgeries in and around the town.

Neighbourhood Surgeries give members of the public an opportunity to speak to an officer in person, to report any concerns or problems within their community, to seek help and support, to obtain crime prevention advice or to discuss any other policing matters that they wish to.

We currently hold a monthly Neighbourhood Surgery in the Waitrose Supermarket Café and three times a month at Coffee #1 on Fore Street.

We are looking for other venues to hold surgeries and information about these and the dates and times of all arranged neighbourhood surgeries can be found on the team’s Facebook page.

Yesterday sae the launch of Operation Sceptre, a National Anti-Knife Crime Week.

Throughout this week our officers along with other officers from around the force area will be taking part in targeted, intelligence led operations to help reduce the number of knives on our streets.

As well as our operational activity one of the most important parts of our work is educating young people about the dangers of carrying a knife.

We will be doing this through school visits, workshops and engagement activities.

Operation Sceptre runs from Monday until Sunday during which there will be a knife surrender bin at Wellington Police Station where members of the public can dispose of any unwanted knives.

Sgt Daniel Bishop 3258

Head of Wellington

Town Police Team