Episode 8 Neighbourhood Blues

The friendly, caring bobby

pounding the beat has always been the hallmark of British policing...

Fantastic. Pleasure's been all mine, my friend.

..and has even been immortalised on film by the fictional

Dixon of Dock Green.

Good evening, all.

Today's neighbourhood police teams continue that tradition,

but also tackle the root causes of crime head on...

..by targeting known hot spots...

Unlucky!

..stamping down on antisocial behaviour...

I'm arresting you for a public-order offence.

..and waging war on illegal drugs.

I can smell cannabis already.

In this new series of Neighbourhood Blues,

we follow the police men and women of Somerset

as they continue their quest to make our streets a safer place.

Coming up...

Police are surrounded on a troublesome estate...

All units now, please. Phone box.

..the neighbourhood team call in Immigration

to target a Chinese takeaway...

When did you come to England?

..and a stabbing... RADIO: Control, this is urgent.

..sparks a police manhunt.

Combating urban crime in Weston-super-Mare,

particularly offences involving drugs and violence,

is an ongoing problem.

Every now and again the neighbourhood police like to

hit the streets in force

on a dedicated day of action to crack down on offenders.

And today in Weston-super-Mare,

neighbourhood officers are being briefed for one of these

special days of action.

We've continued to see an increase in drug-related offences,

and violent offences,

however, the burglaries have gone significantly down.

The majority of the time

neighbourhood officers work in uniform,

but today it's strictly plain clothes,

so they can more easily spot suspicious activity.

The operation's free-flowing today.

It is going to be a case of what we see and then what we go with.

And these are the opportunities we need to sort of pounce upon.

Each area's going to have a predominant area to patrol,

and as soon as someone sees something then we can

all move in onto one area.

Groups of small patrols will spread across Weston.

And, for Sergeant Mark Jenkinson,

it's the only opportunity he gets to be invisible as a neighbourhood cop.

Operations like this, we tend to come together and have a larger,

more dramatic impact.

Today everyone's in plain clothes and we're looking to be

particularly proactive the whole day.

Out on the street,

Sgt Colin Bachelor and Alice Durston

have hardly left the station before they spot someone ahead.

You all right?

A man they know is acting suspiciously.

You got anything on you you shouldn't have on you? No.

They also know he's a drug user.

What is all this? Just...

Paraphernalia, innit? Paraphernalia!

Inside the plastic bag are used syringes and powders,

often mixed with heroin to make it more soluble,

and, although no drugs are found on the man,

Colin can see he's a serious user.

I was going to say, mate,

this is not right, down here, is it?

What have you got going on here?

You are not in good shape with these.

They are rock-hard. Have you been putting too many needles into the...?

Mmm. Is that what's happened? Yeah.

While Colin searches the drug user,

he discovers a letter from a support charity

which shows the man's trying to get clean.

And you've got an Addaction appointment at three o'clock today, haven't you?

Yeah! What time is it? Three...

Quarter past one. You're all right for the minute.

Oh...thank God for that, cos I need that.

Thanks for telling me.

Colin takes the opportunity to talk about the drug crime in the area.

It's all getting a bit nasty round here, isn't it? Yeah, a lot of stabbings and that, innit?

Everyone, innit? It's just crazy, innit?

And, obviously, that's a concern to us, that's a concern to...

Well, yeah, no, definitely.

..the community. That's a concern to the people that live here etc.

There's been fights happening everywhere, hasn't there?

Well... They took me down the other day, hard, man. I know, I know.

They come in force.

The guy obviously knows the risks involved with his habit.

You're not worried about anything?

No. No-one come near me.

Not yet. No-one would, would they? Why not?

Cos I'll take them out. Really. COLIN LAUGHS

What with? Your socks?

People know me, mate, yeah?

Yeah, I...I know who you are.

Yeah. I know who you are.

Do your homework, mate, yeah?

Right, go on, then. Right, I'm going into town... That way, to Addaction, all right?

Yes. See you later.

What time is it? One o'clock.

You'll be early.

His legs are minging.

'He's got nothing on him, probably because he's already had it.'

His eyeballs were on stalks, and he, unfortunately, is

right at the bottom of the drugs food chain,

if you want to call it that.

And that's quite a good example of what can happen to you.

But, par for the course, I'm afraid.

Come on, then.

The day of action is gaining pace.

Across town, Mark and his colleague John Thippen

have just started their patrol,

and already they're onto something.

Guy with a baseball cap on his... Yeah, I see him.

He's wanted, isn't he? Isn't he wanted by you?

Some bloke with a limp. RADIO: Just hang back into another patrol.

Is that him? I'm not sure. Go and speak to him, I think.

What's your name, mate?

But as soon as the man starts speaking...

Sorry, I not speak English.

..John realises he's got the wrong person.

He's a Polish gentleman, anyway. Oh, is he?

It's fine, it's not you. I thought you were someone else. Don't worry. All right.

OK. Few drinks?

More than a few. Oh, yeah...

Police work on local information and their instincts,

and take care to follow procedure.

What we've got to make sure that we do is that

if we do stop someone, or if we do engage with someone,

it's done lawfully and properly.

You know, we can't go on fishing trips but, certainly,

sometimes, if you have a feel for something,

sometimes it will pay off, sometimes it doesn't.

As each team gets in their stride on this day of action,

an urgent call comes in from one of the units.

RADIO:

On the Bournville estate,

a uniformed officer and a PCSO have detained a teenager

who's been riding around on a mobility scooter

which clearly isn't his.

RADIO:

Some residents seem to be unhappy that police have stopped him,

and have surrounded the two men.

Undercover patrols race to the estate to help them out.

RADIO:

As Colin arrives,

Mark Stevens is holding on to

the teenager found riding the mobility scooter.

Mark explains how he and PCSO Justin have just been threatened by the group of youths.

What's going on, mate?

They're all talking about doing me.

So one of them, I don't know which one... Who's...who's...?

And they've had a go at Justin. All right.

And then, as a result, they've just caught him. Right.

The lad who assaulted Justin has just been chased across the road

and rugby-tackled to the ground.

Justin's taken aback by the experience.

They've kicked off and tried to stop him being arrested, and it's gone from there.

With the crowd growing,

Russ Millier needs to get the lad away before things escalate.

Aargh, we love it! Hey, hey.

The teenager on the mobility scooter was found to have cannabis on him.

He was also found guilty of additional, unrelated offences,

and was given a year's rehabilitation order.

The scooter was taken back to its owner.

And Mark now has the opportunity to give Colin the full picture.

They all got a bit BLEEP. Yeah. I started to move in, then they started...

One of them shoved me, but I didn't know which one, from behind.

Yeah. Sorry, I didn't realise there was two shoves. Justin then came across and got involved.

The lad who pushed Justin was charged with assault and given a nine-month referral order.

And after Russ's rugby tackle...

..the lad will need some stain remover.

The day of action has been a success.

It's been absolutely perfect and spot-on,

and we've caused some disruption so, yes, we're happy -

we're happy with the result of today.

Most people who come to live in the UK from overseas

arrive with all the right documents,

but many others bypass the red tape completely.

There could be more than 600,000 illegal immigrants living in the UK,

and it's difficult to put a figure on how many of those are working here illegally, too.

And, in Bath,

it's an issue for Chief Inspector Kevin Thatcher.

We look at the issue of illegal workers as,

potentially, modern-day slavery.

There's a lot of restaurants in Bath.

There's a lot of licensed premises in Bath.

There's lots of other businesses in Bath, who may want to look, too,

you know, for cheap labour.

Today Bath's neighbourhood team have called in one of their partners,

Immigration Enforcement,

to investigate two restaurants under suspicion of using illegal workers.

So, the intention is...

Amy Averne is the lead officer.

I'll give you a bit of background as to how this restaurant came to our attention.

Amy has warrants to search an Indian restaurant and a Chinese takeaway.

Neil, you're covering the rear of the premises.

We'll go through the main door, I'll execute the warrant,

and then if you can just remain in this area with anybody that we encounter.

Dean and Sean, you can just enter through the main door

and then straight down into the basement.

They're acting on locals' reports.

We rely a lot on the community to give us information in regards to

people working illegally

because, without them, obviously, we don't know.

We just can't enter premises without the intel from them.

Immigration Enforcement was set up by the Home Office to clamp down on

anyone abusing immigration laws,

whether by smuggling themselves in,

forging documents,

or overstaying their visa.

And unscrupulous employers are also part of the problem.

The first target

is an Indian restaurant on the outskirts of the city.

The officers head straight for the kitchen, where they find six men,

three of whom are trying to escape through the back door.

But the runaways don't get far, and all six men are detained.

We have now contained the premises,

and we've now seated the males who we've encountered

into a sterile area where we will begin to question them in

regards to their immigration status.

The suspects are from Bangladesh,

and after checking the information the men give against her database,

it's obvious to Amy that their immigration status is in doubt.

So, they're taken into custody for further questioning.

These people are paid minimum wage.

They aren't always given a wage,

they are given food and accommodation in order for...

in return for them to work.

So it's cheap, cheap,

cheap labour for the people that are actually working here.

If the men are found to be here illegally

they could be deported back to Bangladesh,

and their employer fined ?20,000 for each illegal worker.

Seatbelt, this side.

But some immigration warrants aren't so simple.

The second call is on a Chinese takeaway in Bath city centre.

It's important no-one leaves the restaurant until the officers have

established who works there.

As they arrive, a man is walking out of the door,

and experience tells them to escort him back in.

I'll show you the warrant, OK, sir? Yes.

The owner says the man's a customer.

You're buying food, are you? OK, take a seat, then. That's fine.

We've got a warrant issued by the courts to enter the premises, OK?

So you need my ID, yeah? I do indeed, yes.

It's late afternoon,

and possibly the said "customer" fancies an early supper

but something's not adding up.

Here, here.

Something doesn't make sense about his footwear, either.

Why's he got chef's shoes on?

He's working here. No, not working here.

Don't be so nervous.

We have a gentleman behind the counter who has told us he is the boss,

and a gentleman here who has told us he is a customer.

We're just questioning both at the moment as they were both on the premises when we came here.

When did you come to England?

If the alleged "customer" is here illegally, he could be deported.

Two months ago.

Do you have any females that work here?

Oh, this guy.

No, I'm asking do you have any FEMALES that work here?

It's only the male.

If he's a customer he won't know what staff works here, does he? I'm talking to you, talk to me.

Because I doesn't understand, OK? You do understand.

You do understand English. I think that you know, I English not very well.

It's better than you think it is.

The owner says he has a British passport,

but after running his name through the system

there's no photo to confirm who he is.

Where are you from? China? China.

So officers accompany him home to see if he's telling the truth.

He's been a bit vague with the answers to the questions we've given him, so

my officers, with his consent, now have gone to his address, which is literally across the road.

We'll have a look at the passport,

and make sure that the British passport is his.

The owner's back within minutes.

His passport is fine.

The immigration officers need to check the ID of all members of staff,

and one of the evening workers has dropped in.

Hiya. Hi.

Thank you... AMY LAUGHS

Are you a student, yeah? Yes, I am. Full-time student. Do you work with him?

It's becoming apparent that both the young woman and the man

are part-time workers.

You told us you didn't work here.

That confirms that, then. That confirms that, then. AMY LAUGHS

Well, like... It's OK.

The man's rumbled.

I mean, I see him, like, frequently but it doesn't mean that he works here.

It's fine.

The young woman may be legally in the country,

but if the suspect's not, he's likely to be sent home.

Nothing on him. Nothing?

Just confirmed that it's the right name. Let's see what this says first.

The hand-held computer has all the technology to determine

what Amy does next.

So, if he's come into the UK with a visa,

it will show, using our fingerprint scanner, what his true details are.

If he has, obviously, given us false information with regards to his name,

we'll then run those new details through our systems to find out if he is,

in fact, an immigration offender.

At the moment, we're just waiting for the transmission to come through from the scanner.

The real name...

Within seconds they have a result.

The name he gave my colleague, initially, was a false name

and, through the scanner, we were able to prove his true identity.

The name he's given is false,

and they've found out his true identity.

POLICEMAN:

It seems the man came to the UK on a student visa

which expired a long time ago,

and he's been avoiding the Home Office ever since.

He was served immigration papers...

An officer is on the line to an interpreter...

..who explains to the man what's going to happen.

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

He has confirmed that he understands he's now under arrest.

Yeah.

The heat is now on the man's alleged employer, the owner of the takeaway,

who is still insisting the man doesn't work for him.

It's for you, then, to prove that he hasn't been working here, OK?

If found to be working here, OK,

you will be fined ?20,000 for him working here illegally, all right?

But, something's been found in the kitchen

which flies in the face of the owner's story.

So, he does work here, doesn't he?

Yeah. Yes. Exactly.

I've just noticed a food hygiene certificate in the name of this gentleman here.

The man's been telling me the whole time he doesn't work here.

I've now taken a photograph of the certificate to prove

that this gentleman does, in fact, work here.

He's now taken it down, now.

The man's future now lies in the hands of the Home Office.

The more, obviously, that we can receive this kind of information,

we will stop people from working illegally

and we will try and stop people, the owners of these premises,

employing people working illegally.

And, hopefully, in time they will then start employing people

in the community that have the right to work.

And it's reports from neighbourhood officers on the ground

which enables Immigration Enforcement to get results.

We look for local people to provide us with information.

Our neighbourhood team, in particular,

and particularly in the centre of Bath, are our eyes and our ears.

As yet, none of the Bangladeshi men have been deported.

Some have claimed asylum,

and others are visa overstayers who are currently going through the system.

But the Chinese worker was sent back to China.

Both restaurant owners have been served warnings of a fine,

and are now looking at a whopping bill of up to ?20,000 for each illegal worker.

Last year, police across England and Wales dealt with

over 27,000 stabbings and other knife crimes -

the equivalent of around 500 a week.

It's a worrying figure,

and even more worrying is that many of those involved with knife crime

are still in their teens.

Weston-super-Mare's neighbourhood team have been dealing with

a recent spate of stabbings.

And, today, there's been another attack.

Russ Millier is responding to the call for backup.

RADIO:

An undercover officer has seen an altercation in the street

between two local men

and four youths who are from out of town.

One of the two locals has been slashed on the face,

allegedly by one of the youths,

who have all scarpered.

One of them has gone into an address,

but the other three are on the run round the roads here.

The two men have been detained.

One, who already has history with the police,

was seen brandishing a dagger,

defending his injured friend.

Russ is anxious to join in the search for the four runaways.

CAR HORN BEEPS

But not as fast as he'd like.

RADIO: Yeah, we were speaking with officers trying to get dogs.

The nearest aircraft is 30, three zero, minutes away.

Officers on the ground are already getting results.

A youth has just been caught.

RADIO: ..a black Karrimor jacket, a black bag...

There's one detained, there.

RADIO: Yeah, which way did they go?

Suddenly, there's a sighting.

Which gardens? Which gardens? Somewhere here.

Another two youths have been seen.

Have you got what side of the road, or not?

Have you got what side of the road? Yeah, they turned left...

and they've gone here.

Russ immediately gets a shout.

The youths have doubled back, through another garden.

A female plain-clothed officer and neighbourhood police make chase.

With three now in cuffs, the search will continue for the fourth.

And, while the lad in the black jacket is being searched for weapons,

Russ notices something on the one in the red tracksuit...

Face away from me. ..a wound.

How did you get that on your head?

What, recently?

SOMEONE SCREAMS

Suddenly, the youth in the black jacket starts playing up.

Knife crime is a big deal for police in Weston,

which often involves people from other towns and cities,

and all three youths will be taken in for questioning.

What is your name?

Right. Whatever your name is, at this moment in time,

you are under arrest on suspicion of possession of a bladed article,

and suspicion of affray. OK?

The lad who was struggling with police is already on his way to the station,

and Russ tries to find out more about the one in the tracksuit.

How old are you?

Yeah? Mmm.

You act like an 11-year-old.

You really think? Yeah.

And how are you going to do that?

Take these off. Well, they were off when we got there.

You didn't do anything, did you?

You really shouldn't make idle threats.

Keep your hands where we can see them as well.

Recently, we've had issues with mainly drug...

drug-crime gangs coming down from out of town,

which has resulted in probably about six to maybe eight incidents

where people have been stabbed as a result.

This young lad, here - he's 15 years of age.

It's what we come across all the time, now - they've got no concept over what's going on.

And they do think it's funny.

Information has just come in.

Officers have ferreted out the fourth youth.

With all four out-of-towners now securely in police hands,

it shows the public that the neighbourhood team can deliver.

At Bridgwater police station,

officers are keeping the youths apart.

Wahey!

Yes, man, BLEEP.

And, while the one who resisted arrest is already being processed...

BLEEP the police, BLEEP the cops, and BLEEP you, you fat BLEEP.

The 15-year-old is put into a holding room.

Right, listen... Take these off, man.

Listen, be quiet. They're not coming off,

because you just acted the clown, didn't you?

INAUDIBLE

But he's just showing off in front of his friends.

I don't have to find it on you.

Now faced with the custody sergeant,

the gobby teenager has rather less to say for himself.

What is your surname?

Be here a while, at this rate.

Do you have any injuries we need to know about?

Yeah, he has, he's got...

It's like a stab mark on his head, from a previous incident,

which has got a butterfly stitch in,

and he's got a cut to his hand - a fresh cut to his hand.

The fourth youth is now in the holding room,

awaiting his turn with the sergeant.

All suspects will be strip-searched for any weapons or drugs,

and their outer clothing taken for forensics...

..much to the teenager's indignation.

These. What the BLEEP?

They're nice. Don't look any more ridiculous than you do now.

Come on, young man.

Welcome.

Unfortunately, the lad now has to wave goodbye

to his designer trackie.

That's it, hood up. Off.

We have to give them clothing.

Not the most glamorous, by far, but...

..it is clothing.

Get your slippers on.

No problem. After you. I'll get them.

I'll show you to your room, sir... There you go.

While the lad shows off his brand-new prison apparel,

and his belongings are bagged up,

Russ gets some new information from an officer still at the scene.

Yeah, go on.

The man who was wounded has given a rough description of what was used to injure him,

and the officer believes it could be here at the station.

Yeah, who said he's got that on him?

Russ takes a look in the evidence room.

The victim from the earlier assault has described the weapon that got him round the face

as a small blade off a hair clipper,

and, possibly, the weapon that caused the injury to the male's face.

And this nasty specimen is the dagger found on his friend

who was trying to defend him

which, no doubt, could have caused serious injuries.

In my opinion, that's been designed for one thing and one thing only.

The blade's ten inches long.

Carrying any knife in public over three inches is illegal.

And you can't have it locking, no matter what size.

So, yeah, as you see, that is well and truly over three inches.

The injured man refused to identify who attacked him

so there was insufficient evidence to charge any of the youths with the assault.

There you go.

But the man who had the dagger pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon

and was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Still to come... Get on the floor, now!

..Russ is given the run-around by a youth suspected of criminal damage,

and things are blooming marvellous for the local kids.

Right, who's coming to dig a hole, then? KIDS: Me! Me!

For some who like a seaside break, Weston-super-Mare's sandy beaches,

entertainment and Grand Pier make it one of the south-west's

most pleasurable destinations.

But some visitors take the pleasure too far.

Tonight, Russ Millier's patrolling the prom in an unmarked car.

A call's come in from the police control centre -

guests at a seafront hotel have trashed one of the rooms and done a runner.

RADIO:

It all started when a receptionist saw glasses being tossed out of

the window of an upstairs room, which a lad had checked into.

Another member of staff went to investigate

and found more than he bargained for.

He also believes someone had been smoking cannabis.

Another youth was also found in the room.

It seems the one who booked it had sneaked in his friend and the two young girls.

All four made a speedy exit when they were discovered.

When...what time did it...? Is it him that's checked in? Yeah. Yeah.

What time was that? I'd just... Well, Jane left at eight, so it was round the eight o'clock mark.

What, this evening? Yeah.

They've only been there a couple of hours. Yeah.

The lad had walked into the hotel asking for a last-minute room for the night.

The only one available was a family room, for which he paid ?40 for sole occupancy.

No other people were meant to be in that room.

Yeah. One person. Yeah.

He's given a local address, hasn't he? Yeah. Did he confirm any ID?

No. He looked about 18, 19, to be fair.

This chap will take me to look at the room, shall we? You'll get lost in the maze if you...

Russ gets a sniff of something in the air.

Got the smell of cannabis, now.

You wait till I open the door. OK.

It looks like the foursome have enjoyed a wild party.

A lamp has been broken...

..and the curtains ripped off the wall.

So, the main damage is the curtain rail they've pulled down. Yeah.

Out of the wall. It's supposed to be like that one is.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Despite rushing to get away, they didn't leave any evidence behind.

Taken all their bags, have they? Yeah.

They've been drinking, obviously.

Broke the toilet-roll holder, in there.

The council CCTV are already aware of their descriptions,

and they're on the lookout for them.

We'll take the crime details and go and have a look ourselves, I think.

In this case, appearances aren't everything.

Yeah. But that's it, isn't it? You don't know.

Mmm, yeah. No, you don't know.

All right, speak to you later. All right, no problem.

As Russ is in an unmarked car,

he might be in with a chance of catching up with the group.

So, we're going to go and have a look for the suspects,

that are going to be in and around the town centre somewhere.

We have got an address which they checked in with.

The chances are it could well be a Joey address,

as in a false address. RADIO: Stand by.

So, we'll see what we can find in the town.

But, before heading towards the town centre,

Russ' sixth sense tells him that the park near the seafront might be

worth trying first.

In the distance, he spots a young couple sitting on a bench.

The lad seems to fit the description of the one who booked

into the hotel, but is it the right one?

Russ carefully creeps up in his unmarked car.

As soon as Russ gets out of the car,

the lad spots his uniform and legs it.

Foot chase, foot chase, we're in the gardens!

Get on the floor, now.

Down, now, down!

What am I arrested for? Criminal damage.

Nice run, son. Nice run.

Oh! My arms! Up you come, Wallace, up you come.

Let go of my arms, man.

Hey, yo. Can you put them down a bit, please?

Thank you, thanks, mate. Why are you taking pictures?

Here's our man. BLEEP

The youth's romantic bargain break has been stopped in its tracks.

What you doing? Feet in.

While the suspect spends time in the cells, Russ catches his breath.

A bit of a foot chase through the town.

Getting a little bit old for it. But, yeah. Caught him.

So, pleased with that. He's been arrested. Yeah, good job. Good job.

The youth's friends have got away.

And it's hoped he'll give police the full story so they can be found.

But, the following day,

one of the girls seen in the hotel room owned up to the damage.

She was given a conditional caution for criminal damage and made to pay

?70 towards repairs.

She's also been banned from the hotel for the foreseeable future.

No charges were made against the other three.

And now Russ is considering joining a gym.

Get on the floor, now!

We all try to lead happy lives, and knowing our neighbourhoods are safe,

wherever they are, contributes to that.

But when you've been a victim of crime, especially burglary,

all sorts of fears can creep in.

People who have been burgled feel quite violated.

They feel that their personal space has been attacked.

There is kind of a loss of your privacy.

Someone invading your house, you know, it's not...

It's not cool at all. That would be devastating, obviously, because,

you know, property...

This is where you keep most of your valuable and precious things.

And the support of our neighbourhood officers goes a long way to allay

those fears.

Neighbourhood policing is all about owning a little area.

They have responsibility, geographically,

for that area and everyone who lives there.

So, they really care and they have that for several years at a time.

So, you get specific people in there who really care and really want to

make a difference.

In Bridgwater, PCSO Jo Farrow is on patrol.

Her patch crosses a wide area and takes her from built-up streets to

the odd country lane.

I've got an open beat that I cover,

so I've got a bit of everything.

As you can tell, I've got some cows in the background.

We've got quite a high crime area, as well, so there's quite a few...

quite a lot going on. It's quite busy.

Today, Jo is going to reassure a couple whose home was burgled

at the weekend.

They've actually come across the offender, they've disturbed them.

The offender's run off, so we've got a description to go by.

I'm just going to go and see if there's anything else that we can do

to help them.

As well as the visit,

it is also an opportunity for Jo to give advice face-to-face on

preventing future break-ins.

Hi, are you Melanie? I am, yeah. All right?

Thankfully, the couple weren't harmed.

But they are very worried.

They were also the target of a burglary just three weeks ago,

possibly by the same person.

What was...? What's been taken?

On the first burglary, they attempted to break into my car.

The burglar couldn't get into the car, so he damaged it instead.

But he did succeed in breaking into a camper wagon and a small van

before he was discovered by the woman's partner.

She disturbed that thief on his second visit.

I caught him as he was trying to break into the lock...

the locked container that we have.

Right, OK.

The couple's separate descriptions seem to match

and police are working on the assumption that it is the same man.

Jo's shown where he got in.

This wasn't across. He'd already taken this out.

Right, OK.

But his first port of call was into this vehicle.

Yeah. This is where the...

The burglar seems to be a music fan.

As well as speakers, he also got away with a radio and two amp leads.

It's possible the thief came back as he didn't have time

to get everything he wanted on the first occasion.

He's jellied all of this out,

and taken the leads out that were in there on Saturday.

I came to this gate, which obviously is padlocked,

but he was trying to get into here.

He had some snips. Yep. So he snipped here and here.

Snipped that? Trying to get into it.

But what we didn't realise, until after the police had gone,

is he cut the cable.

It was the woman's partner who disturbed him on the first break-in.

I was shocked, really, because I came out at half past six

in the morning. Just doing my normal routine to go to work.

Saw him in the actual van.

Went to ring the police straight away, and that was it, he was gone.

It was just unbelievable. I just couldn't believe that somebody else

had... Or the same person, possibly, had actually broken in again.

It's just... It's insulting, it really is insulting.

The break-ins are still playing on their minds

and they are both afraid the thief will return.

You're on edge, continuously.

Slightest noise and you're like, "What is that noise?"

It is just... It's the sleepless nights.

You're listening...constantly listening out for something,

because you're just expecting something else to happen.

You're living on a knife edge all the time.

To keep them reassured, Jo offers advice on crime prevention.

Alarms and things like that. Yeah, the little security alarms.

You can get little shared alarms now, that as soon as the seal is

broken, it goes off. That's what we've got in the garage.

Yeah. Put that on. You can put it on your gates. As soon as it opens.

I know it'll be a little bit of an annoyance to you because every time

you open it...but you know it's there to turn it off. Yeah.

Jo also casts an expert eye over the area.

With the little gap you've got there,

if you can put something else into it...

Yeah, we can put some more fencing on there.

Anything that makes things a little bit more difficult for them.

Obviously, you've got quite a lot of equipment here.

We do property-marking stuff. Right.

If you want us to come back out with that, I can come back out

with the pens and things and we can mark up. Yeah.

Again, doesn't stop them, it deters them.

Before Jo leaves, the woman remembers another detail.

The suspect had getaway transport which was found behind

another vehicle.

The second time, on Saturday... Yeah. ..behind the camper,

between the camper and the fence, he'd wedged a stolen push-bike.

OK. Did we recover that?

Yeah, they picked that up Sunday morning.

Stolen bikes are often used by offenders to escape a crime scene.

But, in this case, the bicycle thief/burglar quickly

jumped over a fence when he was disturbed and left the bike behind,

which is now at the police station.

He is now aware that you both know what he looks like.

Yeah. So, it should stop him from coming back again.

I'll get some updates anyway and I'll give you a call. Yeah.

It's nice and reassuring to know that somebody like Jo is there to

support us if we need any help.

For Sharon Bennett, PCSOs like Jo are a godsend

when it comes to reassurance.

From what I've seen and what I hear from the community, they love them.

They really do. I certainly value everything they do

and if it wasn't, actually, for PCSOs, I think we wouldn't be

delivering the service we do to our communities.

It's two weeks later and although the suspect may still be on the

loose, at least one crime has been solved.

The stolen bike is being reunited with its owner.

This will be her bike, hopefully.

Thankfully, the women had given a very detailed description.

It is really nice to be able to say, actually, we were able to find it

and it's solved a crime at the end of the day.

Oh, wonderful.

It's actually unusual to always get the bike back in one piece,

as well, so I'm really glad I've been able to do that for you.

Success story. It is. Thank you so much, Jo.

God, that's incredible. I didn't think I'd see that again.

With one crime positively solved,

police will continue their inquiries to find the burglar.

As well as keeping crime off our streets,

neighbourhood teams work hard to build a relationship with the

locals, especially youngsters.

Over in Weston-super-Mare, Mark Stevens is getting ready for a

special assignment involving items which need very delicate handling.

Pansies.

LAUGHTER

Mark and Alice Durston are visiting a nearby estate to join in

a gardening project designed as a holiday activity for the young

children in the area.

The benefits of working with the children at this age

is they can build that relationship with us, so they can look at us

and they know they can approach us if they need our help.

Or if they've got any questions they want to ask us, they can

come and do that with us.

It's just to build that confidence between us and them, really.

Sharon Bennett strongly believes in the holistic approach

to neighbourhood policing.

They'll work with other agencies, they'll work with young people

in the community, old people.

They really look to do some of that work that isn't necessarily

measurable straightaway, but has a real long-term effect

and a positive effect on the community.

Somerset Police are working in partnership with the

Stonewater Housing Association, who, along with local businesses,

have donated all the plants.

A lot of kids today get a bit of a bad rap.

Seeing, like, causing antisocial behaviour,

when actually there just isn't a lot for them to do.

So if they are spending a lot of time in their community

because they don't have anywhere else to go,

why not do something positive?

And it just makes the community relationship a lot better and

adults have a lot more respect for the kids and vice versa.

It's hoped the children will also take more pride in their local area

and have fun, of course.

Right, who's coming to dig a hole, then? KIDS: Me! Me!

So, what you need to do is take it out of the pot.

LAUGHTER Oh, take it out of the pot.

There we go, look. Give it a good hammer now.

The event is a concerted effort to make the public aware

that the police do care about their neighbourhoods,

and one way is by posting pictures on social media.

Say, "Cheese."

Cheese.

Twitter is a really good example of how we can get real positive

messages out there nice and quickly and let people know of

all the work we are doing, because a lot of it goes unseen.

More children arrive to join in the fun.

Yeah.

That's looking good, isn't it? Yeah. Three plants we put in.

Another advantage to the event is it encourages everyone on the estate to

get to know each other better.

Some of the children are making plant pots for their neighbours.

Ding-dong.

Some of the children live locally and live on the street,

so they've kind of made pots for their own house.

But some of these children live in the same house,

so they've made pots for other neighbours, which is really cute.

Really sweet.

There you are.

Today has been a great icebreaker for the kids and police alike.

Yeah, it's not something, obviously, we get to do every day, is it?

So this is a bit about community policing and, um, get to know the

younger generation and making sure they realise we're not

just here to come and tell them off or anything like that.

We're here to help. Thank you very much.

And Alice isn't going home empty-handed either.

I have got some presents from the children.

Some little butterflies and ladybirds and then a little

planted pot. It says, "To my beautiful star."

We've seen today that neighbourhood policing is implemented in a number

of ways, from intensive enforcement to engagement with younger members

of the community.

It all goes to improving the public's confidence in the police.

Until next time, evening, all.

SOMBRE PIANO MUSIC

SOMBRE PIANO MUSIC