Dear Resident, 

This is the monthly newsletter for April 2025.

The Hereford Northside patch is covered by the three members of the Safer Neighbourhood Team, and is a large area including Victoria Park, College, Aylestone Hill, Eign Hill, Tupsley, Greyfriars, Whitecross. Kings Acre, Bobblestock and part of Widemarsh ward.

Since our last newsletter we have extremely busy out in the community and have attended many events, especially over the Easter Holidays. We have responded to many different types of calls such as anti-social behaviour, concerns for welfare, missing persons and distraction thefts.

We have completed many foot patrols around the green spaces on our patch, engaging with the community. Earlier in the month there was a report of a fire in Grandstand Community Park. Youths were discovered making small fires in order to have a barbeque. The problem with this was that the ground and the undergrowth where the barbeques were being used was tinder dry. The fire could have very easily got out of control. Words of advice were given to the youths who were very apologetic. We have continued to patrol this area since and have not encountered any further issues.

Reports from members of the community regarding dogs they believe are dangerous have continued to come in. This month we have investigated reports of XL-Bully and Pitbull dogs. We are working closely with housing providers to address these issues, and a number of dogs have now been assessed. Not all of these dogs are banned breeds and some have been returned to the owners as appropriate. 

Our housing providers continue to support us and we have carried out joint visits, addressing neighbour disputes, smoking of cannabis, and harassment. We also continue to visit at risk people within the community providing reassurance and advice. Where appropriate we refer people to services that we feel could support and benefit them, there are a wide range of services from help with bills to mental health support.

We have visited a number of areas where residents and businesses have brought drug use and drug dealing to our attention. Crime prevention signage has been placed in these locations and has helped to address the issues. We continue to back up our Response officers and telephone investigators by picking us the lower level crime jobs, completing house-to-house and CCTV enquiries. This is also a great way to patrol around our communities , chatting to people and gathering intelligence. During April we assisted the City Centre Team with a large shoplifting job, recording all the recovered stolen property. This took most of the shift.

April saw us attend a number of events. We visited Watkins Court and gave a scams talk to the residents. The event was packed and almost everyone had some experience of scams, whether online, by post or over the phone. We provided leaflets, Action Fraud information, and looked at some individual cases of concern for some of the residents. The College estate had a Spring Clean event whereby we met the local councillor for the area and some residents to get stuck in and collect litter. This was also good for clocking up the steps and engaging with the community. Hampton Grange Nursing Home held their Spring Fair. The staff and residents enjoyed the police car, especially one resident who determined to ditch his mobility scooter, get in and go for a ride out!

The Easter school holidays are always a busy time and we had several religious events take place in and around the City. St Paul’s Church were very welcoming and we patrolled the area during their Palm Sunday procession, walking with them to Hampton Park Church. We also completed some joint working with British Transport Police and held a Smartwater bike marking event at Hereford Train Station. We had a lot of visitors, and some very keen cyclists planning to ride all the way to the Outer Hebrides!

St Francis Xavier Primary School’s Outdoor Cinema event took place and we attended with a police car and engaged with the children, parents and staff. The children loved getting into the police car and turning the lights on. A great community event, and luckily the weather was dry. Holmer Scouts invited us to meet the Squirels. We had great fun engaging with the young children and the West Mercia Police Top Dogs trump cards were a huge hit. Wye Circus CIC held a Hereford Activities and Food event and the children loved this, thoroughly enjoyed dressing up, getting in and out of the police car and turning on the sirens. They were also quizzed on their knowledge of the police and what phone number to call in an emergency. Top marks, as they were all correct!

Kind Regards,

Your Safer Neighbourhood Team - Hereford Northside

PC Reynolds, PCSO Slatter & PCSO Macleod