Woman arrested following Front Street burglary
A woman has been arrested following a burglary at the Chill Café in Acomb York.
It happened just after midnight in the early hours of Saturday 1 July 2017 when an amount of cash was stolen.
Police officers arrested the woman, who is in her 20s and from York, on Saturday evening. She was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possessing class b drugs and assaulting a police officer after a beer can was thrown in an officer’s face. She remains in police custody.
Anyone who was in the area at the time and has any information is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for York Investigation Hub.
Please quote reference 12170114900 when passing on information.
York summer safety initiatives unveiled – webchat for residents’ questions
Organisations in York will be working together to ensure that everyone can enjoy all that the city has to offer safely and responsibly.
Recent initiatives and campaigns have seen North Yorkshire Police work closely with City of York Council, British Transport Police, city licensees and many other partners. These will continue throughout the summer, alongside new developments to make the city even safer.
Sergeant Nick Plumb, of York City Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We have come a very long way over the last few years, and we’re now working with other agencies and organisations more closely than ever before. Those efforts have ensure that York city centre continues to be a great place to work and visit.
(more…)
York Police warning on “Snapchat” danger
Local police have issued the following warning
“Officers from the Neighbourhood Policing Teams within North Yorkshire Police would like to make parents aware of the following update that has released on snapchat.
If your children have the Snapchat app and GPS on their phone please take a look at this.
It seems with the new update there is a new feature on Snapchat. When you open the app place two fingers on the screen and drag them together ‘pinch’ just like when zooming out on an interactive map. This will then open the new feature. It shows your location with near exact accuracy and can be only a couple of meters wrong. This means people can see exactly where you are at any time.
To turn this off there is a settings button in the top right and can turn the feature to ghost mode. This will hide your location from others. Also turn off the phones GPS as an extra level of security.
If you need any help please contact your phone provider or visit an O2 store and speak to one of their gurus. This is a free service and regardless of the network you are on The gurus can help with any technical questions and security advice.
Please remind your children to only have ‘friends’ on these apps who they actually know, this will keep them safer online.
While we have focused this on keeping children safe. Please be mindful features like this could be used by criminals, knowing when you’re out or even where you live. Always be mindful of posting pictures with cycles and such which would show people exactly where you store them. Then show when you are out”.
Police appeal following recent burglary on Boroughbridge Road in York
North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and information about a commercial burglary that occurred in York.
It happened on A59 Boroughbridge Road, York between 10pm on 26 May 2017 and 8am on 27 May 2017 and involved a Mercedes Sprinter flat bed van VRM KN59 GSU being stolen from Oaktree Nursery. Other high value items were also stolen.We are conducting enquiries and are requesting the public’s assistance to help determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation should contact us on 101, select option 2, and ask for Leon Dryden. You can also email Leon.Dryden0090@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12170091337
Police warning over telephone scams targeting the elderly
Police investigating a number of incidents where elderly victims have been defrauded of tens of thousands of pounds, are urging residents of North Yorkshire to be vigilant.
In 2016, there were 2,467 reported incidents of fraud across North Yorkshire. In more than 1,000 of those cases, the victim was aged 70 years or over.
A number of these incidents such as computer software service fraud, advance fee frauds, pension fraud and timeshares and holiday club fraud, will have been facilitated by the victim being scammed via telephone.
Fraudsters will call, claiming to be from a legitimate organisation such as a bank, service provider, utilities company or the police, in an attempt to convince the victim to reveal financial information or to transfer money into a third party account operated by criminals.
The fraudster often supplies a fake number for the victim to ring back on or in many cases the actual number of the organisations genuine customer reporting line, however the fraudster keeps the line open and the victim rings back believing they are speaking to a genuine operative and discloses the information.
(more…)
Vandals attack wall in Foxwood
Disappointing to see that a flower bed wall in Corlett Court has been damaged by vandals. Hopefully the culprits will be identified and forced to pay for repairs! The area will be tidied up prior to permanent repairs being completed before the end of the month.
Elsewhere the Foxwood Residents Association are meeting tonight. One of the issues to be considered may be the location of additional car parking in the area. Following the completion of the bays in Oldman Court it is hoped to extend the lay-by in Spurr Court. After that it is up to residents to decide where the next bay goes.
Some suggested locations for additional parking bays
Policing concerns at record high levels in Westfield
Early results from a survey of residents opinion on public service standards have revealed that over a third of respondents rate policing in the estate as “poor”. When asked about Policing services residents rated it as
Vandalism a growing problem
- Good – 13%
- Satisfactory – 49%
- Poor – 38%
This represents a marked decline from previous results
Many residents, responding to a separate Westfield Focus survey, said that they hadn’t seen a Police Officer or PCSO in their street during the previous 4 weeks
The Lib Dems have now announced that they would give the North Yorkshire police force an extra £2.8 million a year
Liberal Democrats have announced they would boost investment in police forces by £300m a year. This is in stark contrast to the Conservatives who have overseen devastating cuts to community policing. Theresa May as Home Secretary and now Prime Minister has cut policing budgets by over £2bn, eroding the very fabric of community policing.
Under the Liberal Democrats North Yorkshire would see a funding increase of £2.8 million a year. This could be used to restore a visible policing presence in the community and ensure the police have the training and tools to deal with the changing nature of crime.
“This investment in our police is absolutely vital. Under Theresa May – first as Home Secretary and now as Prime Minister, our police have had to deal with the most brutal of cuts. These are now cutting into the bone.
“Our police work tirelessly to keep us safe and this Government has completely betrayed them.
“Only the Liberal Democrats have a credible plan to reverse the increase in violent crime, boost community confidence and ensure the police have the resources they need to keep us safe.”
- On policing cuts: According to figures from the National Audit Office (NAO), from 2010/11 to 2015/16 central government grant to police and crime commissioners and their equivalents in London including specific grants and council tax freeze grants has reduced £2.2 billion in real terms. This represents a 22% real terms reduction. – http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7279/CBP-7279.pdf
- On police strength: At 31 March 2016 total strength of the 43 police forces in England & Wales reached just over 124,000 FTE officers. This is the lowest number of police officers recorded under the current strength measure. This is not a pattern we see in Scotland where police numbers have seen year on year increases almost continuously since 1985.
- On neighbourhood policing: In the PEEL report Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabularies warned that the neighbourhood policing model was under threat due to funding cuts. The report stated:
- Since 2015, there has been a substantial drop in the proportion of people who say they have seen the police, on foot or in a police car, regularly, in their area. Our research shows that, now, fewer than one in five people feel there is a regular uniformed police presence in their area. Where neighbourhood teams exist, police officers are routinely taken away from their local areas to meet demands in other parts of the force area, leaving a reducing number of PCSOs as the mainstay of community teams. – https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/wp-content/uploads/state-of-policing-2016.pdf
So is alcohol fuelled violence getting out of hand in York City centre
With seemly daily reports in the media about drunken behavior and violence in York city centre, what are the actual crime statistics for the area within the inner ring road?
Fortunately they are readily available on the Police UK web site
The latest monthly figures available cover the month of March.
Distribution of crimes
There were 448 crimes reported in March. The majority of these were for anti social behavior,violence and shop lifting.
It was a similar picture during the previous 12 month period
| Crime type | Total | Percentage |
| Anti-social behaviour | 2373 | 43.68% |
| Violence and sexual offences | 790 | 14.54% |
| Shoplifting | 649 | 11.95% |
| Other theft | 419 | 7.71% |
| Bicycle theft | 340 | 6.26% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 220 | 4.05% |
| Theft from the person | 173 | 3.18% |
| Public order | 153 | 2.82% |
| Burglary | 120 | 2.21% |
| Drugs | 83 | 1.53% |
| Vehicle crime | 41 | 0.75% |
| Other crime | 35 | 0.64% |
| Possession of weapons | 19 | 0.35% |
| Robbery | 18 | 0.33% |
Crime levels usually increase in the summer when larger numbers of people visit the City. Officials will be looking anxiously at the figures for April and May, when any adverse trends may become clearer
What happens to these arrested?
Some go to court, but most do not!
So who is responsible?
Many of the crimes are fuelled by alcohol.
Here the City Council must take some of the responsibility.
They have cheerfully nodded through more and more licensing applications and have even given planning permission for new premises such as the arts barge whihc will have a bar. They have been recommended to allow up to 5 new licensed premises at the shipping container village which is to be located near the Walmgate trouble blackspot.
Not all licensed premises contribute to the problems but it would be reasonable to ask all four candidates in the forthcoming general election what they want to see done to reassure residents that parts of the City centre are not becoming a “no go zone” during parts of the day.
Police appeal following incident on Windsor Garth, York
North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and information about an incident involving a member of the public who was possibly assaulted.
The incident happened at about 12.30am on Sunday 7 May 2017 when a man was walking along Windsor Garth, York.
Prior to the incident there were two young men aged in their twenties who were walking behind the member of the public and they appeared to be arguing.
The member of the public then woke up on the floor on Windsor Garth and had suffered a head injury. It is unsure at this stage how the injury was sustained or what caused it.
We are conducting enquiries and are requesting the public’s assistance to help determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
We are appealing for witnesses or anyone who can provide any further information about the incident to get in touch as soon as possible to assist the investigation.
If you can help, please contact us on 101, select option 2, and ask for PC 63 Amanda Popely. You can also email amanda.popely@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12170078144.