Community Safety Newsletter April 2024

Southend-on-Sea City Council sent this bulletin at 02-04-2024 09:30 AM BST

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Meet Joseph Knight

Hello my name is Joseph

I am currently a Community Safety Officer for Southend City Councils Community Safety Unit. I have held this position for 2 years.

My role comes with both rewarding and challenging times. Within the Community Safety Unit we cover a lot of aspects of keeping Southend a safe environment for the local community and visitors to the City.

The Community Safety Unit is a unique service. We are responsible for addressing anti-social behaviour and problems across the City, keeping everyone safe in the process and working very closely with our partners Essex Police to make sure Southend is a safe environment for everyone.

My most rewarding moment as a Community Safety Officer has been when I managed to save someone’s life with my quick thinking and confidence in first aid. I attended a serious incident last April with a male with a serious bleed, through my decisive response and first aid training I managed to stop the bleed before paramedics arrived on scene to keep the patient alive.

The most challenging aspect of our role has to be managing people’s views on what our role is about and handling our emotions when we are having a bad day, Good training and keeping our minds clear help us manage these issues and work closely together as a unit looking out for one another with the support we get is fantastic.

Alongside my position as a Community Safety Officer, I am a Hate Crime Ambassador, these responsibilities allow me to work closely with potential victims of hate crime, advising them on how to report hate crime and spreading awareness about the problems they may be facing.

Inspector David Gardiner of Essex Police and the Southend Community Policing Team, with members of the Community Safety Team standing at the CCTV van.

Come And Meet The Emergency Services

Members of the Emergency Services look forward to meeting our residents over the Easter Holiday Period.

The Community Safety Unit will be joined by members of our Emergency Services for a day on Southend Seafront.

This is an event for all the family to come along and find out all about our Emergency Services.

From getting the chance to experience sitting in a police car, meeting members of the RNLI and sharing any community safety issues you may have. You will also get the chance to receive some giveaways from both Community Safety and other members of the Emergency Services too.

We will be based outside the Jubilee Office (Next to the fountains) Southend Seafront

Wednesday 10th April

11am - 2pm

* In the event of bad weather this event will not take place, please check our social media pages for updates *

Visit our Twitter Page Here

Police, Community Safety Officers and Cllr James Courtenay in Southend High Street.

Purple Flag Success

Southend-on-Sea has once again retained the internationally recognised Purple Flag accreditation for the eleventh consecutive year.

Much like the renowned Blue Flag for beaches, the Purple Flag symbolises excellence in night-time entertainment, dining, and cultural offerings while prioritising the safety and wellbeing of the community during evening hours. This reaffirms Southend's status as a vibrant hub for night-time activities and a safe city for residents and visitors.

The successful accreditation submission, led by the Southend-on-Sea City Council, was a collaborative effort involving multiple partners. It showcased standout events from the past year, with special recognition given to the popular and successful Halloween Parade.

Furthermore, the submission received praise for its commitment to safety and security. Notably, Southend's CCTV infrastructure played a pivotal role in aiding law enforcement, with CCTV footage serving as crucial evidence in the successful prosecution of various crimes, including hit-and-run incidents.

To find out more about Purple Flag click on the following link:

Purple Flag Details Here

Stolen Bike Returned to owner

After hearing a description over the radio channel of a male who had stolen a bike, Community Safety Officers alongside CCTV Operators based within the mobile unit set out to assist with both the suspect and the location of a stolen bike.

They managed to not only catch up with the suspect, who left the scene leaving the bike behind, our officers were also then able to return the bike to the owner. Fantastic, swift partnership working.

If you are concerned for the safety of your bike please take a look at the below website for Forward Motion

Forward Motion

Police and community safety officers under the bridge on Southend High Street.

Car Meet Disruption

Our CCTV Mobile Unit disrupted a car meet happening in Stock Road.

After being made aware of cars gathering in Stock Road our mobile unit visited the area to find 11 cars already in the vicinity. After providing a visible presence in the area the cars quickly dispersed, preventing any issues occurring in the area.

Essex Police Officers / Southend City Council and BID

Community Payback Partnership

Community Safety joined together with Essex Police, Probation Services, The BID and Southend City Council for a Community Payback Event last week.

This event featured around Warrior Square Gardens, with the area being generally improved, and some repainting of some damaged planters. This was also well attended by residents, providing community safety advice and giveaways to them, alongside providing reassurance.

For details of all our events please visit our website :

Southend CSP Website

Robbers Caught

CCTV Operators acted swiftly to a street robbery that took place in Clifftown Road last month.

A group of youths, with their faces covered were seen walking in the High Street and caught the operators eye. CCTV Operator felt they were acting suspiciously.

They were then monitored within Clifftown Road running off, and operators then caught the group robbing a youth of his jacket and bag.

Operators notified police control straight away, and continued to monitor them until police apprehended two males, who were arrested immediatly. Followed by a third male shortly after. Fantastic partnership working.