In the know

Runnymede  PCSO Abbi Ruddock was awarded the Surrey Police PCSO Community Champion this year for her tireless work in the community.  This was for her exemplary support to survivors of domestic abuse, helping them to feel comfortable to support prosecutions and for working on a complex closure order to protect residents from drug related harm. 
 

Updates from the past few weeks around Surrey:

- Two warrants were carried out in Runnymede, directly as a result of neighbours speaking with the Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT), one uncovered a large cannabis farm in Hythe 
- Members of the Waverley SNT team took part in an education day at Frensham Common engaging with 20 off-road motorcyclists, 6 4x4 drivers and many members of the public with the aim of getting across the message that off-road driving must be done responsibly and in a safe manner.
- Work with our external partners has also taken place in recent weeks. The Reigate and Banstead SNT joined forces with YMCA, Raven House Trust and Reigate and Banstead Borough Council to host a litter picking event in Horley during ASB Awareness Week


 

Surrey Police PCSO Chris Moyes travelled to the heart of government to celebrate 20 years since the creation of PCSOs in the Police Reform Act 2002, which became law on 24 July that year. The reception, at the House of Commons, was attended by MPs and PCSOs from around the country and Chris attended on behalf of Surrey Police and as one of our longest serving PCSOs, having started in January 2003.  Chris said about the day, ‘It was a real privilege and fantastic to be recognised for all the work we do for our communities. We were pioneers in the early days, helping to define the role, and now the public really do appreciate our presence.’

Surrey Police PCSO Damon Young received our PCSO Diversity Champion award last week for his unwavering support to the LGBTQ+ community as a LGBTQ+ Liaison Officer and other minority groups, including those who may be vulnerable to crime due to their disabilities.

We are pleased to announce that Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, Lisa Townsend has secured £195,000 in government funding for a project to improve safety at Addlestone housing estate. The ‘Safer Streets’ money will go towards tackling issues such as drug use, noise nuisance, intimidating behaviour and criminal damage to communal areas at the Surrey Towers estate..The funding will help make improvements to the security of the estate including resident only access to stairwells, the purchase and installation of CCTV cameras and additional lighting. Increased police patrols and presence are also part of the plans as well as a new youth provision in Addlestone which will employ a full time youth worker and give young people a place to go. Runnymede Borough Commander Inspector James Wyatt said “I am really pleased that our bid has been accepted for funding to improve the quality of life of those living in and around Surrey Towers. This will also include a youth provision for Addlestone, an important diversionary option for young people in the area.” “I’d like to thank Runnymede Borough Council for their support, and I look forward to working with residents and partner agencies on this project.” We will provide further updates on the safer streets project as it develops.

We are looking forward to the Commonwealth Games, after welcoming the Queen’s Baton to Surrey earlier this month! A number of our officers will be working alongside West Midlands Police ,and other forces from across the UK, to help make sure the Games run safely.  There are a number of athletes from Surrey competing in the Games this year - good luck to them all!

Recently, Police Dog Waffle and Police Dog Ludo joined our officers at ‘Walkies at Wisley’ for the launch of our official partnership with DNA Protected UK who are creating a UK database of canine DNA. Simply buy a kit, swab your dog, and send it off to be stored on their database. If your dog is ever stolen and recovered, we can link it straight back to you. Just like ours, a dog’s DNA cannot be changed or removed, and we hope that this unique service can be a game-changer for us in investigating dog thefts.

Who to  report graffiti to:
- To the police as criminal damage if it is targeted at a person or group of people, such as offensive or hate-related graffiti 
- To the local authority if the premises are council property, public areas, and highways

Who removes it?
- If the land is owned by the council, they will remove the graffiti 
- On private land, it falls to the homeowner to pay for the removal of the graffiti