News 24 April to 30 April
 Frontline focus
This months Frontline focus follows Colchester LPT E shift over the month of April. This is by no means an exhaustive list of what the team have done, just a short oversight of what our Local Policing Teams do to help people, keep you safe and bring criminals to justice.
The team were called to reports of a violent domestic abuse incident at 4am in the morning. Attending the scene they have arrested the perpetrator on suspicion of a number of offences including GBH and have gathered evidence and conducted initial safeguarding actions at the scene. They have then put together an investigative package to hand over to our domestic abuse investigation team to undertake and continue the investigation and safeguarding of the victim.
The teams quick thinking and quick time actions resulted in a knifepoint robbery suspect being arrested after fleeing the scene of their crime. E Shift were the night turn LPT cover when at 2am a knifepoint robbery was reported having just happened. Our LPT officers attended the scene and began to re-assure and speak to the victim. With the information they gained and evidence they had began to gather they managed to quickly identify a person of interest. They then attended the address of the person and within an hour of the call had the person arrested on suspicion of robbery, having to force entry to the address to effectively make the arrest.
Officers from E shift also attended an incident just after midnight on evening when a gentleman with dementia walked out of his address and couldn’t be found. Due to his dementia there were serious concerns over his safety due to the way he left. The officers helped the family remain calm and began to search the local area. Luckily they managed to use the valuable information from the family to identify search area’s and fortunately quickly found the man and helped him get home safely. Advice and support was then offered to the family to try and prevent this type of incident happening again.
E shift also conducted a visit to a local school, talking about what its like to be a police officer and building trust and relationships with young people in our community.
In the early evening one day, a call was received stating there was a disturbance between two groups and that the caller had seen a knife. Before officers arrived the groups had dispersed so E shift began to search the area for anybody matching the descriptions of those involved. As they entered a road they saw a male who matched one of the descriptions. Upon seeing the police car the male decided to not hang around and began to run away. Officers exited their vehicle and began to chase the male, who hopped over garden fences, walls, and kept running. The officers after a bit of a chase caught up with the male and detained him for a search. During the search a quantity of drugs were recovered and the male was arrested for possession with intent to supply.
One of the sergeants for E shift, Ps Solomans was also awarded a superintendents commendation for his actions at an incident back in January whereby his actions saved a woman’s life.
These articles are to give you an overview of the types of incidents our local policing teams regularly attend.
We’re working to tackle offending across Colchester, ranging from anti-social behaviour (ASB) to violent crime and domestic abuse.
Recent action has seen officers work with partners to secure a closure order on a property with known links to frequent ASB, a key conviction secured against a teenager who robbed children at knifepoint and a domestic abuse perpetrator sentenced.
Across the district, we’ve seen 1,768 less incidents of overall crime across the year to March 2024 – a fall of almost 10%.
One of our main focuses in Colchester is on tackling ASB, and we’re seeing a sustained fall in offences in recent years.
This includes a drop of 434 incidents recorded in the 12 months to March 2024. That’s a decrease of 20% year-on-year.
We’ve recorded 3,393 fewer ASB offences since 2019 – a drop of 65%.
But we know how important it is people continue to report these issues to us, as we’re not blind to the fact regular victims of nuisance behaviour will, understandably, not recognise this trend.
Chief Inspector Colin Cox, Colchester district commander, said: “Despite the fact we are seeing the figures move in the right direction, and we’re seeing less incidents of ASB than we were five years ago, we know that fact will mean little to a member of the public who does regularly fall victim to this issue.
“Even if you don’t see an immediate response, your reports to us build a picture of where we’re seeing issues arise, allowing us to work with partners like Colchester Council to devote resources where they are needed, or to form a longer-term solution to meet the problem head-on.
“We use this data to target our patrols to deter ASB, we host drop-in clinics with our PCSOs to understand concerns residents have. We make sure we use legal powers, with the council implementing Public Space Protection Orders and our use of dispersal orders when necessary, to stop these issues in their tracks.”
Read more about some recent work to tackle offending in Colchester and ways of getting in touch by following the link in the comments below
Two charged with drugs offences and assaulting and emergency worker
Two men have been charged following a vehicle stop in Colchester yesterday afternoon.
One of our Local Policing Team officers was on patrol in Greenstead when he stopped a vehicle he had seen which he thought to be suspicious. As the vehicle stopped the passenger from the vehicle began to run away, with the officer giving chase. The vehicle drove off.
The passenger was quickly caught and shortly after the vehicle returned and when told to stop attempted to run the officer over, hitting him while continuing to drive away.
Another local policing unit found the vehicle being driven nearby and managed to safely stop the vehicle.
A 49 year old man from Colchester has been charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, being concerned in the supply of heroin, failing to stop for police, dangerous driving, driving without third party insurance and assaulting an emergency worker.
A 19 year old man from Witham has been charged with possession of cannabis, being concerned in the supply of heroin and being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine.
Both men are due to appear at court.
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Community Policing Team - Inspectors Blog
It has been a very busy couple of weeks since the last blog, and I know it is a day later than the usual Friday circulation, I find myself on weekend on call due to other commitments I have to the Public Order Public Safety policing world in case there are significant protests, events or disorder (fingers crossed the phone doesn’t ring) so I’m in the office for the weekend.
The last couple of weeks have been busy for the teams at Colchester, no doubt you will have seen the Frontline Friday post with all the work that the response officers from the Local Policing Team (LPT) have been up to. That was just one of the 5 shifts we have here that were showcasing their efforts. Some of the other shifts have also been bus. Last week LPT officers arrested a prolific shoplifter and charged them with 10 offences resulting in 12 weeks of time in prison and a new Criminal Behaviour Order. This week the LPT were busy again, this time with another prolific shoplifter arrested and charge with 23 offences, some thefts, and some breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order, they will be held on remand in prison pending sentencing at the Crown Courts next month. This will hopefully provide some respite to some of the businesses in the community that have been targeted, and would likely have been targeted again without the action taken.
We work closely with our Business Crime Team to secure the Criminal Behaviour Orders against repeat offenders to give them more incentive to rehabilitate and more tools for us to enforce where they don’t and depending on the conditions imposed can turn simple entry into a premises into a criminal offence for that individual, even if there is no theft, assault or any other criminal act undertaken.
In order to secure these orders we need to know about repeat offending, which means the more that crimes are reported the more chance we have of getting good outcomes like these, so whether it is a 999 call to something happening there and then, a 101 call to something not quite as urgent, or you wish to use our online reporting function of our website please do contact us an make a report. I
It’s not just the LPT that have been busy though, the Community Policing Team (CPT) continue to be out there in the communities and working with partner agencies with lots of events taken part in to build bridges. Today as I type this blog the CPT are working hard dealing with 3 young people arrested overnight in relations to attempted vehicle thefts following calls made to us at the time the incidents happened, and I know they will do all they can to ensure justice is done.
There is so much going on that I cannot cover everything in my blog, but I hope that this gives an understanding and flavour as to what the team have been doing. If you want more information about anything in this blog or want to get in touch about an initiative or something else then please write to us at colchestercommunitypolicingteam@essex.police.uk
Thanks for reading.
Chris Coyles
 Let's talk
Upcoming community police events
Wednesday 1 May 10am to 11:30am
Coffee morning - Wimpole Road Methodist Church, Wimpole Road, Colchester
Wednesday 1 May 10am to 11am
Marks and Spencers, Stane park Stanway
Thursday 2 May 10:30am to 11:30am
Community 360 Hub, Long Wyre Street
Thursday 2 May 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Tiptree tea rooms, Tiptree jam Factory
Saturday 4 May 10am to 12pm
Marks Tey community centre
Saturday 4 May 10am to 12am
Marks Tey community centre
Tuesday 7 May 10am to 11am
Coffee Hog ,48A William Harris Way
Wednesday 8 May 10am to 11am
Marks and Spencer, Stane retail park, Colchester CO3 8DW
Thursday 9 May 9am to 10am
Lakelands Community Centre – Stanway
Tuesday 14 May 10am to 11:30am
Waitrose St Andrews garden, CO4 3EQ
Wednesday 15 May 1pm to 2pm
Over 60’s Club - St. Margaret's Berechurch, Stansted Road CO2 8RA
Tuesday 21 May 10am to 12pm
Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, CO1 1PT
Thursday 23 May 10:30am to 11:30am
University of Essex, Zest Café.
Friday 24 May 5pm to 6pm
Starbucks, Sheepen Road, Retail Park, CO3 3LL
Saturday 25 May 4pm to 5:30pm
Colchester Library, 21 Trinity Square, CO1 1JB
 Tips for making other people feel safer on the streets
Some of this advice might seem obvious, but there are some simple things we can do to help other people feel safer when they're out in public.
Keep your distance
When walking behind someone, particularly at night, try to leave a good amount of distance between yourself and the person ahead of you. Remember that the closer you are, the more threatening you might seem.
Don’t stare
A stranger staring at you can be intimidating and unsettling. Focus on something else to show you’re not a threat. Look out of the window, message a friend, or read a book or newspaper.
Cross the road
Somebody running up behind you, particularly at night, can be frightening.
If you’re out for an evening run, or walk, and see someone walking ahead, cross the road, call out to let them know you’re about to run by them or make sure to leave a good amount of space when you pass them.
Keep comments to yourself
What you might think of as just a bit of fun, or flattery, can be insulting, upsetting or even scary to someone else. Keep any comments or opinions to yourself.
Keep your friends in line
If you're in a group of people where someone is harassing another person on the street, try to calm the situation. They may just need to be told that they're behaving inappropriately.
Be an active bystander
If you notice someone is uncomfortable with another person's behaviour, show your support by being an active bystander. It can be as simple as standing between a person and their harasser to block their line of sight. Ask that person if they need any help, and back up anyone else who is intervening.
Share these tips
Sharing these tips with other people can go a long way towards making us all feel safer on the streets.
Be fraud smart
Electoral fraud is when someone tries to cheat in an election by breaking electoral laws. It is officially called electoral malpractice.
Electoral fraud includes:
Campaigning
- not declaring campaign expenses properly
- not including the names and addresses of the printer and who the leaflets were printed for on election leaflets
Voting
- pretending to be someone else to use their vote
- bribing someone to vote the way you want them to
- abusing a position of power to persuade someone to vote your way, for example a religious leader telling their congregation which way to vote
Becoming a candidate
- lying on a candidate nomination form
- forging or making up signatures on a candidate nomination form
- registering as a candidate when you are ineligible, for example because of your occupation or criminal record
Registration
- registering to vote when you are not entitled to vote
- lying about the deadline for people to register to vote, to stop people bothering to register
 Have you any advice about personal safety during a night out?
Listed below are some steps that can be taken to ensure your personal safety:
- Never leave your bag or coat unattended in a pub or nightclub, it is an ideal place for thieves.
- Never leave your drink unattended, as it is very easy for someone to put an illegal substance in your drink, which could have very serious consequences for you.
- Always make sure you know how you are going to get home after a night out. It is best to travel home with friends and not on your own.
- Book a taxi home before going out, do not flag down a taxi as you cannot be sure they are a licensed cab driver.
- Avoid any confrontation or fighting, if someone is threatening you, tell a door supervisor but do not get involved.
- Never accept a drink from a stranger. Go with the person to the bar if you want to accept a drink.
In general though, wherever you are try and remember the following suggestions:
- Do not walk home alone late at night. If you do, choose well-lit main roads and walk confidently.
- If someone does grab your bag fighting back is not always a good idea, you do not know if your attacker has a weapon.
- Always be aware of your surroundings and the people around you. Reading and listening to music can be distracting.
- In a busy public place, try to only use your mobile phone in an emergency as it is advertising the fact that you have a phone and whilst using it you are distracted, making it easier to take it from you.
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