The past couple of months have seen significant policing successes through close collaboration between police and key community partners.

A joined-up approach with local businesses and shops in Redhill has reduced shoplifting by 40% in the past year. The Reigate and Banstead Safer Neighbourhood Team has been enhancing crime prevention measures, such as increasing patrols and speaking with businesses about how they can protect their stores. When thefts do occur, close cooperation between police, shops and security teams has led to more arrests and interviews, and an increase in the number of solved shoplifting cases in Redhill.

Police have also been strengthening relationships with schools as they returned this September. Officers visited East Surrey College in Redhill to engage with students and staff, sharing our efforts to keep the community safe. The college works closely with the Safer Neighbourhood Team and officers regularly visit the school to educate students on community safety issues like knife crime. PC Charlotte Shaw said, “It was great to speak with the students about the challenges our team faces and the very real consequences of carrying weapons. We also demonstrated some of our proactive measures to tackle knife crime, including bag searches and metal detectors.”

Regular engagement with local students is a key part of our Safer Redhill initiative. We’re grateful for the support from schools and colleges who are part of this project.

YMCA East Surrey's youth workers and the Y Bus have been busy in the community with recent visits to East Surrey College for their Freshers Fair and also to Reigate Valley College, where they engaged with students and showcased YMCA’s youth services on offer to year 10s.

YMCA youth workers will present five days of assemblies at Oakwood School to promote YMCA youth clubs and the Y Bus. We are working towards reaching out to more local schools to show young people the Y Bus and what services are on offer.

During the summer holidays, the Y Bus attended two activity days in Memorial Park, offering young people a safe and welcoming environment to enjoy the summer break. Keep a look out for the Y Bus after school in and around Redhill and come and chat to our youth workers to find out more about our youth offer.

Sergeant Dan Heather has recently taken on a new role within the local policing team and is eager to get involved within the Safer Redhill project. Here’s a short introduction from him:

"I’ve been in policing for just over four years, having joined Surrey Police in the summer of 2020 after studying Clinical Psychology at university. I’ve worked in our response policing teams, being first on the scene when someone calls 999, and now I’m based in the Reigate and Banstead Safer Neighbourhood Team.

“As one of the three Sergeants in the borough, I oversee the north and central teams, including the Redhill area. I know significant progress has already been made through the Safer Redhill project and I’m keen to work with partners to build on this success. 

"My job as Sergeant involves a variety of tasks, one day I might be organising operations to target specific crimes within the Redhill area. Another day, I’ll be working with partner agencies to obtain closure orders on addresses responsible for serious levels of anti-social behaviour and other criminal activity.

“I absolutely love my job in policing. Whilst it can be highly stressful and somewhat exhausting, it’s very rewarding knowing the work that my team and I do is having a positive effect on our local communities. I’m looking forward to introducing myself to new faces within Redhill and working within such a supportive partnership.”

The Council has agreed proposals to upgrade CCTV cameras in 22 town centre locations across the borough, with the possibility that some additional locations may come forward as details are finalised. The new cameras will be in addition to 39 new cameras installed in the Council’s multi-storey carparks and Lady Neville, Memorial and Priory Parks last year, bringing the total number of upgraded cameras to 61 borough wide. Twenty one of the upgraded cameras will be in Redhill, with 12 already installed in Bancroft Road Car Park and nine cameras to be upgraded in the town centre, including key locations on the pedestrian precinct. The proposals are a result of work by the Council to review its public realm CCTV system before cameras that were previously earmarked for decommissioning  were removed. A public petition received in January 2024 and research work undertaken by the Safer Redhill partnership have shown that CCTV cameras can make people feel safer. The old, out of date cameras will be decommissioned and all new cameras will record high quality images and comply with data protection guidance and regulation.

The play area at Fairfax Avenue had a revamp this autumn as part of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s play replacement programme. The proposals were showcased at the Cromwell Fun Day event on 29 June and the new, inclusive equipment includes a jumbo springy, buddy board and roundabout, alongside a new climbing frame, zip wire and adventure trail. The Council is now also working with the community and the Safer Redhill partnership to consider what wider improvements to the space might further improve the area and support community safety, such as the removal of the aluminium shelter, additional benches and lighting, planting and outdoor gym equipment.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council's Dog Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) set out the rules for how dogs must be controlled in the borough, including areas where dogs are not allowed or must be on a lead. A consultation last autumn showed strong support for renewing existing rules, such as the borough-wide requirement for walkers to pick up their dogs' waste; and introducing some changes, such as reducing the maximum number of dogs that can be walked by one person to four. Dog walkers are advised to check the rules to make sure they avoid any penalties.

Phase two of our campaign to empower local people to recognise and report anti-social behaviour (ASB) takes place during October and November. If you are in the town centre or using a digital device, you should see our messaging on how to be part of the solution by reporting it when you see it. The campaign encourages the public to identify different forms of ASB including:

• rowdy, noisy behaviour
• alcohol related nuisance
• people using or dealing drugs
• vandalism
• litter and fly-tipping
• antisocial driving and parking

and to easily report it with a direct link to www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/safer-redhill.

In addition to social media and Google advertising, the campaign uses posters, digi screens in the Belfry and banners around Memorial Park. Next month, a simple toolkit will be available to local businesses and organisations who would like to support the campaign by displaying A4 or A3 posters or posting on their own social media. If you would like to receive this information, please email communitypartnerships@reigate-banstead.gov.uk In the meantime, if you spot any of our social media posts like the one below, please like and share it with your audience.