Police and council say they’re cutting town centre crime – but is that so?

ROTHERHAM’S police chief has said tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre was a priority for the force — but so is prevention to help stop a “revolving door” of re-   offending.

Speaking to the Advertiser to mark completion of her first six months in the role, Rotherham-born and bred district commander Laura Koscikiewicz reflected on the highlights, as well as the challenges, facing her and her workforce.

“We are very aware of concerns in the town centre and the police have got a big role to play alongside housing, drug and alcohol services, the council and businesses,” she said.

“When it comes to crime and anti-social behaviour, it’s about tackling that but also how to prevent it.

“We recently had 13 cases of shoplifting going to court with eight-week (custodial) sentences. In four weeks’ time, that means they are back out in our communities so what we are doing is to find out why they are causing crime. It’s a revolving door otherwise.

“We work with prolific offenders when convicted to stop them offending when they are released.

“There’s been a lot of success around that partnership, working with housing and probation services, looking at getting them into employment and having a stake in society.”

Weekly walkabouts with police and partners have started in Rotherham town centre and RMBC has appointed a new co-ordinator to work closely with officers.

A Partnership Problem Orientated Policing Plan has been developed over the last few months, following the success of Operation Target in Maltby and the impact of anti-social behaviour on commercial businesses, which is addressing concerns in the town centre.  

“We had a really positive outcome recently with our passive drug dogs (sniffer dogs) targeting the Interchange,” said Chief Supt Koscikiewicz. “That’s all part of the PPOPPs plan, with police being visible, taking on the problems and the cause of the problems.”

There has also been increased funding for CCTV with more cameras, while police are also working with the youth offending team “to refer people and get them engaged by doing some targeted intervention with them”.

Meanwhile, designing out crime officers — trained staff who specialise in crime prevention — are “going to areas where they know youths are congregating and taking away that space” in the town centre, she added.

“Over the next few weeks and months as part of our Dark Nights and Violence Against Women and Girls campaigns, people will see officers in the town centre, as well as plain clothes officers,” said Chief Supt Koscikiewicz, whose highlights so far include the Women’s Euros in Rotherham.

“It showed the town in a really good light,” she said, “and not just from a policing perspective, from a Rotherham perspective.

“There was such a joy around the event with markets and the events in the town centre and we got out and engaged with people in a positive light — policing is not always dealing with the bad things.

“Everyone really loved policing the Euros.”

Equally, the town did itself proud while paying respectful and solemn tributes to Her Majesty The Queen after her death earlier this year.

“Police officers, PCSOs and cadets got invited to remembrance parades and attended the proclamation ceremony with dignitaries and members of the public which was wonderful to be a part of,” she said. “As a force we were really proud.”  

The district commander’s message to Advertiser readers about her six months is simple: “With early intervention and prevention and by making communities resilient, we can tackle crime and disorder and make Rotherham the thriving place we want it to be.

“We will never step away from that.”