Presentation by the Police Local Area Commander
Post date: Jun 12, 2018 12:2:59 PM
The police Local Area Commander, Superintendent Yvette Hitch, attended the November 2017 meeting of the Council of Faiths. She has been in post since June, 2017 and lives in Milton Keynes and has previously worked in the city as a Detective Inspector.
MK is a diverse city, most people are migrants.
There are 360 staff, police and civilian.
There are 1700 incidents a week, domestic disturbance being the biggest, making up 20% of the Thames Valley (TV) total. TV is made up of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
The police don’t deal just with crime, as they are available 24x7 they can’t say “no”, eg they deal with mental health issues. There have been 7 suicides on the railways this year.
They also deal with issues such as modern slavery (eg nail bars and car washes) and child exploitation.
MK is a relatively safe place to live.
Key issues:
Burglary – there is one per day. They go for jewellery, iPads, mobile phones, car keys (and cars).
Historically feeds drug habit. Now more organised – they cross police borders.
Internet or cyber-crime.
- Stalking
- Courier fraud. Transfer money into another account. They target the elderly.
Domestic Abuse – mostly women victims.
- Increase in young people in inappropriate relationships.
- Trying to get into schools.
Hate Crime – one report a day on average, but it is underreported.
It is a hate crime if a person perceives it as such.
Not getting convictions as often one person’s word against another.
Yvette is running a restorative justice session next year.
MK is a very diverse city, eg there are 28 different African groups in MK.
The police are mostly white British males, with 30% females and 5% BME.
Schools entry is 50% BME and 50% white.