News

Read the latest news about the Safer Hastings Partnership, our recent achievements and new initiatives here…

Digital camcorder, PSP or
MP4 for you & your school

July 2006

PUPILS from all primary and Secondary schools across Hastings & St Leonards are invited to enter the Safer Hastings Partnership’s Schools Competition 2006. Launched at the start of July, the competition gives local pupils the chance to win a digital camcorder, MP4 player or PlayStation Portable (PSP) games console for themselves, plus a digital camcorder for their school. All students are asked to do is come up with ideas for a 30-second film clip for the Partnership’s award-winning 11-screen community TV network, SHP-TV.

Sponsored by the Hastings & St Leonards Excellence Cluster (formerly known as the Education Action Zone), CCN Ltd (the company behind SHP-TV) and Network Rail, the competition categories include Our Town, Railway Safety, Home Safety, Keep Yourself Safe, Substance Misuse, Fire Safety, Health and Education.

Pupils are invited to submit storyboards outlining their idea for a short film clip. The winning primary and secondary school storyboards will then be made into film clips and played on SHP-TV for three months, featuring the name of the winning pupil and their school’s logo. Letters have been sent to head teachers and chairs of governors, inviting them to participate in the SHP Schools Competition 2006 as part of the Citizenship, PSHE or Media Studies part of the National Curriculum. Sussex Police School Liaison Officers are supporting the competition.

The competition will be judged by representatives of the Safer Hastings Partnership, Hastings Borough Council, Sussex Police, the Excellence Cluster and CCN Ltd. Entries must be sent to the Safer Hastings Partnership and received no later than midday on 6th November 2006.

Short-listed primary and secondary school pupils, their parents and staff at shortlisted schools will be invited to attend the Awards Ceremony at The Hastings Centre on the evening of 7th December 2006. All competition details, plus full terms and conditions, can be found online at www.saferhastings.co.uk, where staff and pupils can find examples of storyboards, and view existing SHP-TV clips. Mike Fagan, Community Safety Manager with the SHP, said, “We are hoping to get a good response as it will also help us to identify what most concerns young people in regard to community safety.”

Tackling youth nuisance

July 2006

THE SAFER Hastings Partnership’s Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Unit has been working with Sussex Police to crackdown on under-age drinking in the town centre. Police Operation Warbler was launched to tackle the issue of young people obtaining alcohol and drinking it in public, before moving on to organised Alcohol-free, under-18s events.

The ASB Unit has worked with the Police to combat under-age drinking and the associated anti-social behaviour. Any young person stopped and spoken to by Police Officers or Police Community Support Officers is entitled to receive a copy of a stop and search form, which the officers are required to complete. On several occasions, when officers have offered a copy of this form to young people they have stopped and spoken to, many do not want a copy for fear of their parents finding out why they have been spoken to.

For this reason, in connection with Sussex Police, the ASB Unit has formed a Youth Nuisance Register. Every time a young person is spoken to by police officers, a copy of the form is picked up from the police station by the Safer Hastings Partnership’s ASB Unit. The Unit then writes letters to the parents or guardians of the young people concerned. The letter sets out the circumstances in which the young person was stopped, and seeks to inform the parent that their child was out at a certain time, on a certain date, when their behaviour or the behaviour of their friends was such that an officer felt it necessary to stop them, and advise them about their conduct.

Where an individual is repeatedly coming to notice in this way, further interventions are considered. Recently, Sussex Police have been trying to combat the problem of underage drinking in public by actively targeting the locations where young people are known to gather for this purpose. Under Operation Warbler, those young people found in possession of alcohol, under the influence of alcohol, or in company of others in possession of alcohol, are stopped and spoken to by uniformed Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers. The ASB Unit is later notified and the letter is sent out to parents or guardians. Some of the more serious cases have prompted referrals to the under 19-substance misuse service, but these are rare. Since mid-May this year, the ASB Unit has processed more than 80 such stop forms from Operation Warbler alone.

Carla Lane, a Police Community Support Officer working within the Unit who is responsible for the register, said, “The response to these letters has been tremendous. More than 90 per cent of the calls we receive after the letters are sent are very supportive of our actions. “Most parents are concerned that their children have been caught in this way, because they had lied to their parents about their whereabouts or activities. The usual response is, ‘Thank you for letting me know, I will be having serious words later’. “Parents have a responsibility for the actions of their children so it is only right that we highlight to them what their children are up to so that they can take on that responsibility.”

View community TV at home as SHP launches new website

July 2006

INTERNET users can now view the Hastings Partnership’s community TV network online. The SHP’s website has been revamped and the new site has been live since the beginning of June 2006.

The original site was set up in April 2004 when the Hastings & St Leonards Crime & Disorder Partnership (CDRP) changed its name to the more userfriendly Safer Hastings Partnership. www.saferhastings.co.uk was originally just 10 pages, mainly detailing the work of the SHP’s focus groups and major initiatives.

The new site, which can be found at the same address, has been expanded to 50 pages. Visitors to the site can read the latest news from the SHP, use links to our partners’ websites, look up more details of our achievements, initiatives and focus groups, and pick and choose film clips from SHP-TV to view. Our four-page spreads in the Hastings Observer, such as this one, are available to read online or download as PDF files. Local residents can now fill out the SHP’s annual Fear of Crime Survey online as well, and will be entered into the annual prize draw to win £100.

Natalie Williams, Communications Manager with the SHP, said, “We’re very excited by the new website, which offers so much more than the previous one. Streaming film clips from SHP-TV onto the website will enable residents to watch them from the comfort of their own home, and for others across the country, and the world, to see what a great place our town is and how it’s becoming safer year-on-year. “We’re grateful to Hastings-based company FAT Promotions, who worked so hard to create this new site for us. ”

Respond young people film for SHP-TV

July 2006

TEENAGERS from a local voluntary group filmed two clips for SHP-TV after coming up with storyboards about issues affecting them. Several teenagers from Respond submitted the ideas for film clips to the SHP earlier this year. Judges from the SHP, CCN Ltd (the company behind SHP-TV) and Respond chose the best two, and then set a date for them to be acted and filmed by the teenagers themselves.

The winning storyboards, filmed in June, encouraged young people to avoid getting bored by getting active (by Lewis McFee, 18) and warned of the dangers of adults buying alcohol for under 18s (Kasey Ellis, 16).