New neighbourhood priorities set for London Colney, St Stephens and St Albans East

New neighbourhood priorities set for London Colney, St Stephens and St Albans East

The neighbourhood priorities for London Colney, St Stephens and St Albans East have been agreed and will be set for the next few months.

Over the past few months, the Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) has been working to tackle the issues that you said were causing you the most concern.

NPTs work alongside partners to focus on solving long and short-term neighbourhood issues, such as anti-social behaviour, theft, speeding and drug-related crime.

They provide a specific focus on the issues that residents have raised through surveys, alongside an analysis of data.

You will see your dedicated team of PCs and PCSOs working alongside partners to tackle the issues, through an increased police presence, engagement events and targeted enforcement.

You said: Rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour/ASB outside Oaklands College

The anti-social behaviour reported includes littering, smoking, and committing public order offences outside the college during break times and after lessons, affecting passers-by and nearby residents.

We did and continue to:

We are working closely with the college to try and resolve these issues.

We have increased high-visibility patrols.

Louise Traxon is the dedicated PCSO for the area and has spoken to numerous students about their behaviour.

We are working on community resolutions for those causing issues to give something back to the local area.

Three street meetings have been held with residents.

We have also been working with the Speckled Hen and local shops.

We disrupted people with cannabis in a vehicle in Wynchlands Crescent.

You said: Vehicle related anti-social behaviour at Starbucks and the A414 North Orbital Road.

This is a long-term neighbourhood priority of vehicle related anti-social driving, illegal car meets and excessive noise along the A405 in Chiswell Green.

We did and continue to:

We have been working on this complex long-term neighbourhood priority with Starbucks, Herts Highways, Herts County Council, local councillors, local residents, Burston Garden Centre and the PCCs office for the past five years.

Acoustic monitoring technology was recently installed, which measure vehicles emitting noise above the legal threshold, funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner. Drivers caught exceeding these noise limits will receive educational warning letters, with repeat offending facing Section 59 warnings, which could result in their vehicles being seized if caught for a second time.

Previous measures included a permanent overnight closure, a barrier/gate at night shutting over 30 car park spaces and a camera to measure vehicle noise.

You previously said: Vehicle related nuisance including parking, HGV nuisance and speeding.

We did:

We worked with the council’s parking attendants who enforce inconsiderate parking.

Several drivers received traffic offence reports over the past few months – which means they could be fined, sent on a driver’s improvement course or summonsed directly to court for excessive speed.

Several targeted operations have taken place to speak to drivers.

We have liaised with company bosses over HGVs using Colney Heath roads as a cut through.

The number of reports has decreased, so this is no longer a neighbourhood priority, but we will still monitor this issue.

Whilst there will be a focus on the local priorities, officers will continue to respond to daily business as usual, as well as forcewide priorities and any emerging issues which require more immediate action.

Alongside the NPT, the St Albans district is also policed by officers who respond to emergency calls, a team of detectives who investigate crimes such as burglary, robbery and assault, and specialist units who work to tackle issues such as acquisitive crime and domestic abuse. In addition, they can call on officers from central teams which work countywide.

You can have your say by joining our ‘Herts Connected’ hertsconnected.co.uk community messaging service to keep up to date with what’s happening in your local area.

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