Wellington Neighbourhood Policing Team dealt with and responded to 262 101 and 999 calls from members of the public which related to Wellington in September. This was an increase of more than 30 calls on the number we received in August.

We also dealt with a number of online enquires, Facebook messages, emails and phone calls made directly to the officers from the team.

The number of crimes reported and recorded across Wellington in September fell considerably and was 24.7 per cent lower than reported crimes for August. In total 67 crimes were recorded compared to the 89 crimes recorded the month before.

Reports of anti-social behaviour also fell again during September with six fewer reports than in August. Wellington Neighbourhood Policing Team continue to patrol anti-social behaviour hotspot areas and to do all we can to maximise our visibility and engagement in all of our communities.

Officers from the policing team have been present at and taken part in several community events over the past month. We would like to congratulate the town council and everyone else involved in organising such a successful Welly Welcome Weekend. We would also like to praise the Friends of the Park for the way in which it organised and held its live music events throughout the summer.

Coming out of Covid-19, as a policing team, we could not be more grateful for all the hard work and dedication which went into organising everything, which, in turn, afforded us the opportunity to meet, engage with and support so many members of the communities we police who attended and enjoyed each event.

I am pleased to say our policing team is growing in number with the addition of another two officers. Special Constable 5436 Jessica Hayter joined the team fresh from training school on Wednesday, September 29. Jessica will be tutored by PC Hayden Smith until she is signed off for independent patrol.

Police Constable 2347 Rachel Lang joined the team on Tuesday (October 5). Rachel, who was a patrol constable in Taunton, will initially work alongside Rural PC Joanne Jeffery while she is introduced to Neighbourhood Policing. Following her introduction, Rachel will start working with and supporting members of the public, external partners and the many businesses across Wellington and the wider area. This increases the Neighbourhood Policing Team’s numbers to four PCs, five PCSOs, two special constables and one sergeant.

Sgt Dan BISHOP

Neighbourhood Police Sergeant for Wellington