Has The City Centre Improved?

[Norbert 145]

You're getting mixed up between two different people. Gemma is a Sheffield local who looks rough and often walks around on crutches. She lives (or at least used to live) in the estate next to West One.

 

Oops, I'll edit it...

[Bago 10]

I know I'm going to sound harsh in saying this, but I do agree with the others about this little PR exercise by the OP. Either the OP formally gets endorsement by his/her seniors in doing this in a proper manner, or post as a Joe Public like everyone else. The lack of professionalism in the approach dispels any trust that the general public have with the Police Force.

 

I also scanned the website linked to the profile, and found it to be a farce. Especially so if they are naming police operations with farcical ones like Operation Geisha. It really doesn't instill confidence that the police is taking matters seriously.

 

I don't know who the "Safer Neighbourhood Team" is, or what they do. There isn't any clear indication as to what part they play in the community, and how the South Yorkshire Police work with this particular unit.

 

There has been so many incidences which are posted on the Sheffield Forum everyday which could do with some police attention, and we don't see any of that. I've just skim read the Newsletters and realised that it's fluff reading. I live in the S2 area, and even my neighbours have seen the increase in petty crime by youths over the laft few years. I recall she was burgled once. We're now considering putting up gates.

 

It is also a farce to state in the same newsletter to encourage people to phone 999 in an emergency, when the document itself talks about non-emergency petty crimes, of which a 999 call does not cover. There's been a few car crimes which had happened, and when owners report it, they are then only to be told that the number is a wrong one to dial as it is not an "emergency" as it isn't happening any more. The police seriously need to get their act together and have a single point of representative and the same set of information throughout to all units.

 

About Safer Neighbourhood Teams

 

Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) consist of police officers, police community support officers (PCSOs), special constables and local authority Neighbourhood Wardens/ Ambassadors and managers. Some SNTs have Children and Young Persons Officers and Crime and Disorder Reduction staff.

 

SNTs are dedicated teams who are visible, accessible and familiar to communities. They reduce local crime, bring more offenders to justice, and address quality of life issues through a problem-solving approach with communities.

 

SNT officers and response officers are all police officers with the same powers. Response officers deal with 24 hour emergency calls that need to be dealt with quickly. SNT officers work with communities, together with partner agencies, to provide high visibility patrols and address issues that concern local people.

You see, I am confused already about the powers, roles and responsibilities of all these people. How can a SNT officer have the same power as a response officer, but only response officers deal with the 24 hour emergency calls? (Presumably the statement means the 999 ones.)

 

So, if I have an issue which I think needs police attention, what do I need to do to get its needed attention? Things like car crime on my local street, or unruly kids who hides in bushes and ambush individuals in the dark, to kids throwing items at a moving bus?

[redrobbo 10]

...So, if I have an issue which I think needs police attention, what do I need to do to get its needed attention? Things like car crime on my local street, or unruly kids who hides in bushes and ambush individuals in the dark, to kids throwing items at a moving bus?

 

Email your local councillor with details Bago, and your information will be passed onto to your local Safer Neighbourhood Area Team for a response.

 

I'll PM you with the email contacts for your local councillors, one of whom (as you already know) is, er.... me!

[mahonia 10]

The city has improved a lot over the last few years,some of the beggers are more polite and the shoplifters have learned to run faster.

Ecclesall Rd has a better quality of vagrant these days,so it seems now that even the street urchins have their own social scale and choose to live in the more well off gutters.

 

The City Centre is better now, however there is still problems with beggers around the Midland Station area and the bus station at night could do with some pcso's going though, as volvoB10M has said most of them have now moved out of the city and Hotspots like the Bus & Rail Stations ,Park Sq, Waitrose are having problems with beggers and anti-social-behaviour

[redrobbo 10]

Email your local councillor with details Bago, and your information will be passed onto to your local Safer Neighbourhood Area Team for a response.

 

I'll PM you with the email contacts for your local councillors, one of whom (as you already know) is, er.... me!

 

Bago - your inbox is full (again!).

 

I did add some chit-chat in my PM, but I've clearly had to delete it from this post - save to say I've missed seeing you around and I hope you are still practising mah-jong!

 

Pung! Quong! Chow!

 

red

[Bago 10]

Email your local councillor with details Bago, and your information will be passed onto to your local Safer Neighbourhood Area Team for a response.

 

I'll PM you with the email contacts for your local councillors, one of whom (as you already know) is, er.... me!

Thanks for the response Redrobbo. I don't normaly take such issues to my local councillor, and I don't even know what their roles are in the community to be honest.

 

The kids ambushing walkers and passerbys were in the Crystal Peak area. I just remembered it was a really nasty incidence, as apparently it's a common route for the local people from getting off the tram to walking to their homes in one of the estate around there.

 

These kids thought it was quite funny to ambush people and rustle in the dark to scare them. I didn't think it was funny when I thought it was some nutter, or some rapist, so I shouted something back about them being idiots, but they heard me, became angry and I got verbal abuse instead.

 

The item being thrown at a moving bus was a while back near the KFC in S2. I think the bus driver didn't stop, but everyone on the bus was bloomin shocked to the core at how far these kids went.

 

I'll try and find out the incidence with my neighbour. I don't know when it happened, but I just remember her telling me the last time I saw her. I am currently in Sheffield at the moment, but I don't live here on a regular basis any more for the past year. So I haven't monitored it.

 

I did have a car break in on my street by passerbys who must've been someone near the area. That was a couple of years ago. I remember posting about this here, and then realised how common car crime is in Sheffield alone. Especially on certain model of cars, and their dud security system.

[Bago 10]

Bago - your inbox is full (again!).

 

Here are the contact details I tried to PM to you....

*snip*

 

I did add some chit-chat in my PM, but I've clearly had to delete it from this post - save to say I've missed seeing you around and I hope you are still practising mah-jong!

 

Pung! Quong! Chow!

 

red

It's emptied now.

 

No. I don't have much chance to practise mah jong any more, which is a shame.

 

Going back on topic. I did vote on the "yes" even before I read the whole thread. Thinking about the comments made by others, now I understand what had been done in the city centre.

 

I hope that any homeless people are dealt with by the local authorities and not simply moved on. A cousin mentioned to me that the local supermarket in town are not stocking up on cheap alcohol any more to encourage the drinking. I find it ludicrous on some level when I think about human rights, but I also feel on a passionate level that alcohol isn't the answer to the beggars that you see in town. By that, I meant the ones who are truly genuinely homeless and use drink to numb themselves. Not the con artists who obviously are very thick skinned and con you.

 

I think even I have met the woman too once. If my cousin wasn't so adamant and looked at her in the eyes, then I wouldn't have known why he behaved that way. He later explained to us that she frequently uses the same trick, and always walk around that area too.

[metalman 21]

Could we not deport the Burton-on-Trent woman to Burton-on-Trent and see how long it takes her to beg enough money to come back for a change?

[Minimo 59]

I actually emailed the Safer Neighbourhood team re this poll and its ambiguity, had no response and whoever set the poll hasn`t bothered to come back on here. So what was the point?

[Bluebird236 10]

I live in the city centre and have done for a number of years now. In terms of the question posed I don't think there has been a marked improvement or deterioration in tackling the issues. In the evening the annual vandalism on my car continues (a geranium dumped on my bonnet last week), another night reveller tragically murdered, the occasional innocent student assaulted. The positive I would draw is that this is low level stuff when you consider other cities but we still regard it as shocking and intolerable. It is good that the police and council are at least asking the questions. The answer is not simple but there are laws already in place to tackle these issues. They need to be enforced.

 

As a side note, it erks me that on my commute to Leeds I am never out of site from a CCTV camera. But big brother is not watching, or at least acting on the evidence because the vandalism and antisocial behaviour continues unchecked. How much are we paying for this things and what real benefit have provided.

 

So the laws are there, the evidence is there. What's the missing link? Go figure.

 

Ther City Centre Policing team are interested to know of peoples opinion in relation to Begging,Street Drinking and Rough sleepers in the city centre.

Has the situation improved or deteriorated in the last 12 months.