Terry Scriven and Chief Insp Gary Cooper

A number of residents have expressed concerns about many issues of policing.

Terry Scriven, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesman for New Forest East, visited Chief Inspector Gary Cooper who is the officer responsible for policing in the constituency to find out just what is going on.

On the threat of terrorism Terry was reassured to find that the Chief Inspector has placed this high on his agenda. Not only is high visibility patrolling taking place but time is also being spent on explaining to residents what they should look out for in helping to spot suspicious behaviour.

Terry found that more involvement in neighbourhoods is underway and named officers are being assigned to communities in the coming months. The temporary closure of Hythe Police Station, raised by both Terry and County Councillor Brian Dash, was found to be due to staff shortages and sickness. 

The Chief Inspector agreed that this could have been communicated to residents much more effectively however, recruiting was now underway and the problem will soon be resolved.  Perhaps a worry that came out of the meeting is a review of all police stations in the New Forest area, which might mean some short-term closures at weekends.    

In further discussions with the Chief Inspector, Terry requested that more be done about underage drinking about which, many residents had expressed concern. The Chief Inspector reported that increased patrolling in areas where this is prevalent is underway and action will start to particularly target licensed premises. 

Already a spin off of this is the reduction in criminal damage. The Chief Inspector thought much of the alcohol was coming from the youngsters’ homes and he made an appeal to parents to help him reduce this growing problem.

On conclusion of the meeting Terry Scriven said, “I was impressed by a caring senior police officer who has introduced a number of policing initiatives and is being proactive in many ways for the good of the community.

I look forward in two weeks time to my meeting with Chief Superintendent Ann Wakefield, who is in overall operational command of policing in the New Forest, to find out more about the strategic issues surrounding our policing service, whether or not there is truth in the rumour of further police reductions, the situation in respect of the deployment of more Police Community Support Officers and the likely closure of some of our police stations at weekends.

Terry Scriven has over 35 years experience as a Military Police Officer and is a graduate of the National Police Staff College Strategic Command Course.