:00:13. > :00:16.the programme tonight: Policing on the cheap, or a high-profile sign of
:00:16. > :00:20.security on the streets - what's the future role of our Community Support
:00:20. > :00:25.Officers? Watch your handbags - the gangs
:00:25. > :00:29.preying on innocent shoppers in the centre of Bedford. Practising for
:00:29. > :00:32.the Pole - an airman who lost both legs in Afghanistan is heading for
:00:32. > :00:42.Antarctica. And it's Finals Day for the
:00:42. > :00:53.
:00:53. > :00:58.Steelbacks as they triumph in the T20. Good evening. They were
:00:58. > :01:02.initially considered policing on the cheap but have increasingly become
:01:02. > :01:12.the public face of the region 's police forces. Community Support
:01:12. > :01:13.
:01:13. > :01:20.Officers, or PCSOs, were introduced ten years ago. There are currently
:01:20. > :01:27.168 PCSOs in the region and 1350 regular officers. Northants has 125
:01:27. > :01:35.PCSOs and more than 1200 regular officers. In Bedfordshire there are
:01:35. > :01:41.only 90 PCSOs fear. PCSOs do not have the power of arrest.
:01:41. > :01:46.Pending the beat, critics have always maintained that the purpose
:01:46. > :01:53.of PCSOs is to save pounds. They cannot arrest people but focus on
:01:53. > :02:00.neighbourhood policing. Issuing parking tickets and confiscating
:02:00. > :02:04.alcohol, including having a work with this grip -- having a word.
:02:04. > :02:07.Cambridge police are asking you what you think about PCSOs, but after ten
:02:07. > :02:13.years the reality is that some others are still not sure what their
:02:13. > :02:17.powers are. What you think of police Community Support Officers?
:02:17. > :02:26.They are good, good to have around. Do you know what their powers
:02:26. > :02:31.actually are? I gather next to none. Not the full power. not a lot of
:02:31. > :02:40.power, not as much as the normal police. I feel safer and it is good
:02:40. > :02:43.to have them. They either friendly face of the police.
:02:43. > :02:50.When the PCSOs first came in, it was not known what they did on Friday
:02:50. > :02:53.were here. As it has evolved we have become more involved. Police
:02:53. > :02:57.officers respect that we do different things to what they do and
:02:57. > :03:03.we have worked well together. Kim Butcher police insist that the
:03:03. > :03:09.review is not about saving money, but they do have to find �22 million
:03:09. > :03:13.over four years -- Cambridgeshire police. What they are looking at is
:03:13. > :03:22.the future of policing. it is a mixed economy. Police officers are
:03:22. > :03:25.with full powers, PCSOs with next powers, special Constabulary, and it
:03:25. > :03:29.is would be looking at how all of those resources with different rules
:03:29. > :03:33.and different responsibilities and different powers come together to
:03:33. > :03:39.deliver a good policing service. Some believe that the scrutineers
:03:39. > :03:44.overdue. Since the rule was introduced we have not had a review
:03:44. > :03:50.like this. It is really important that the taxpayers of Cambridgeshire
:03:50. > :03:55.get best value for money from the policing service. But many seem
:03:55. > :04:03.unsure what PCSOs currently do, let alone what the role should be in the
:04:03. > :04:07.future. There is no way of knowing how much
:04:07. > :04:13.PCSOs have contributed to fall in crime figures, but they do provide
:04:13. > :04:18.that presence. It is there a more cost-effective way of doing that? I
:04:18. > :04:21.asked public services lecturer Julian Constable. The police
:04:21. > :04:27.Federation for a long time have said that they would prefer and
:04:27. > :04:32.exhilarate police force, Philippe trained and with powers -- fully
:04:32. > :04:39.trained. We have the special Constabulary at the moment but that
:04:39. > :04:43.is not the same kind of organisation as the PCSOs. and also, relying on
:04:43. > :04:53.volunteers to make up the police force in future. How worried should
:04:53. > :04:53.
:04:53. > :04:59.people be? There have been some calls to pay police volunteers. Some
:04:59. > :05:03.forces have been looking at that. The PCSOs however are paid,
:05:03. > :05:07.therefore it is a direct costs coming out of the police force 's
:05:07. > :05:12.budget and I suspect that is partly what is motivating this review of
:05:12. > :05:17.the activities of PCSOs. Across the country PCSOs numbers have been
:05:17. > :05:22.following recently. What has been the impact of that? we have no
:05:22. > :05:27.evidence of that rate now at the moment to understand what the direct
:05:27. > :05:31.evidence of PCSOs is as such. But there have been suggestions that the
:05:31. > :05:36.cuts to the police service over the last few years are having a direct
:05:37. > :05:42.impact on the capacity to perform a community and crime prevention
:05:43. > :05:48.activities. If you do reduce PCSOs numbers it is quite possible that
:05:48. > :05:58.cheap lease a greater burden on regular police officers -- that you
:05:58. > :05:58.
:05:58. > :06:01.place a greater burden. What you think is the future for PCSOs?
:06:01. > :06:05.is very uncertain. What we do know is that there are further cuts in
:06:05. > :06:08.budget and we know that that has lead to reductions in PCSOs numbers
:06:08. > :06:15.and police officer numbers and I suspect that that will continue into
:06:15. > :06:19.the next two or three years. Next, I care workers secretly filmed
:06:19. > :06:28.sleeping on the job has denied neglecting an elderly resident.
:06:28. > :06:35.Jackie Ndoro, one of two key workers accused of failing to help the
:06:35. > :06:40.82-year-old he collapsed. -- who collapsed.
:06:40. > :06:43.This is where Jackie Ndoro used to work. The court heard she was very
:06:44. > :06:48.experienced. She cut a lively figure in the witness box as she
:06:48. > :06:56.strenuously denied neglecting the man, who was found on the floor of
:06:56. > :07:02.the lounge. She told the court that she had not panicked. She said that
:07:02. > :07:07.he was chatting away. A bit of help, or something like that. The
:07:07. > :07:13.prosecution said, you can sure him on CCTV seeing, help me, help me,
:07:13. > :07:17.and you and your colleagues failed to go to him. She maintained that
:07:17. > :07:24.she knew nothing about the fall and how she went into the room. She said
:07:24. > :07:30.her colleague had not raised the alarm. The prosecution said that the
:07:30. > :07:36.peer manhandled him into the wheelchair and that she should have
:07:36. > :07:39.made the effort to go and get a hoist.
:07:39. > :07:44.Why did the assistant manager decided to film these two in the
:07:44. > :07:48.first place? The court heard that the laundry
:07:48. > :07:51.room was very quiet when this peer was on the night shift and the
:07:51. > :07:57.assistant manager was always suspicious about the level of care
:07:57. > :08:00.that were giving. Jackie Ndoro was filmed falling asleep on the job and
:08:00. > :08:04.she admitted that she had neglected to do some of her two hourly checks,
:08:04. > :08:11.which is when she would have changed the wet bedlinen. A jury has been
:08:11. > :08:15.sent out to consider its verdict tomorrow.
:08:15. > :08:20.Gangs of Eastern European 's are targeting shoppers in Bedford,
:08:20. > :08:27.stealing cash. One pensioner had �3000 stolen when followed from the
:08:27. > :08:31.bank. Elderly people are called that they are the vulnerable targets.
:08:31. > :08:35.These look like innocent shoppers, but they are callous thieves.
:08:35. > :08:40.Earlier they watched as an 80-year-old woman withdrew �3000
:08:40. > :08:45.from a bank, money to pay for her holiday. Now they are following her
:08:45. > :08:49.into a lift and they are about to steal her cash. She is one of a
:08:49. > :08:57.number of pensioners being targeted by gangs. They are making an effort
:08:57. > :09:02.to travel to Bedford to get their victims. These gangs will surround
:09:02. > :09:07.them. Before they know it, the victims are having their bags dipped
:09:07. > :09:17.into and their purses taken. The first woman targeted were followed
:09:17. > :09:24.
:09:24. > :09:32.by the gang into New Look. Another woman had her handbag, containing
:09:32. > :09:36.�1200, taken from her shopping trolley. it is absolutely appalling
:09:36. > :09:40.that they should pick on elderly, vulnerable people. It is a level of
:09:40. > :09:44.depravity that we have not quite known before in this country.
:09:44. > :09:50.families should talk to them to make them aware that carrying that kind
:09:50. > :09:54.of money around is not safe these days. Just be extra vigilant. If you
:09:54. > :10:00.find yourself being followed by people, do you really need that
:10:00. > :10:07.money on your person when you are walking around the town? Detectives
:10:07. > :10:10.are now asking anyone who recognises the gang members to come forward.
:10:10. > :10:13.Workers at the troubled Railcare factory in Wolverton have now been
:10:13. > :10:18.paid for the first ten days in August but they have been told there
:10:18. > :10:21.is not enough money to cover wages they have been owed for July. The
:10:21. > :10:28.company went into administration last week with more than 100
:10:28. > :10:30.employees been told they will lose their jobs. The National Trust has
:10:30. > :10:37.spent �1 million restoring our historic town in Wisbech.
:10:37. > :10:42.But they say that the restoration will eventually pay for itself. The