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WPC Helen Hanks and I’m stationed in Lewes Police Station which is in the county of “Sussex” in English. My name is Stephen Rowle. I’m a police constable in “Sussex” police. I’ve been a police officer now for 21years.
And this is Clare Martin. Hello, again, today I am investigating the police—woman police constable Helen Hanks and police constable Stephen Rowle are well-known on the streets of Lewes. They are community police officers. But what exactly does this mean? Community Officer is trying to build bridges with the community. Getting back to the old-fashioned way of being a police officer. For people to see a policeman walking a bit in uniform. They find very comforting and I am there to be seen, to see people, help prevent crimes by my sheer presence and if I can be seen to be walking the streets both in the town center and in the residential areas of town. Then hopefully, it puts a few minds at rest and will deter thieves, villains, and burglars from visiting our town and our area.
Basically, it’s just to get to know the people, get to know the area and try and build up a relationship between the police and the community and hopefully, improve policing and quality of life in those areas. Building bridges with the community, getting to know people. Well, this sounds good for the image of the police. So is it really just a public relation exercise or does a community police officer actually catch criminals. Yes, I do catch criminals. Particularly, shop lifters in the town center. People that go into shops and steal property and leave without paying, anybody committing, any offences in the town, which I see, and I will obviously arrest them as and when necessary.
No doubts there. Police constable Rowle is convinced that he is effective. But how big a town is, Lewes, and how many people does he police? Lewes is a town of some 28/29 thousand people. There’s an awful lot of people for us to look after. So therefore, they don’t get the coverage that they perhaps deserve from somebody who is solely walking a beat. Police officer Rowle and Hanks don’t police the town of 28/29 thousand on their own of course. There are also the traffic police and the special squads, like the CID, Criminal Investigation Department. But the community police officer is very much in the front line. How difficult a town is, Lewes to police. Is it generally a law-abiding town? I’m very pleased to live here as well. It’s very quiet. We have a few problems. One or two little areas where people misbehave. For want to better word, but, yes, it’s a generally law-abiding town.
So it’s generally a peaceful place. But some people misbehave, for example, a lot of burglars, unfortunately, a lot of criminal damage, and a lot of problems with motor-vehicles. There are thefts from motor vehicles, nor so thefts of motor vehicles. I suppose, I mean that’s main bulk of the work. And what about traffic offences? Speeding and parking? Does that take up a lot of time? It takes up an awful lot of my time. Traffic, in Lewes, is an absolutely nightmare. The town was never built for a car. It’s a very old town. The town is full of very narrow streets. We do have town center car parks. But it does cause an awful lot of problems. People are basically lazy. They don’t like to walk and if they can park outside the shop, they will park outside the shop. They won’t park around the corner and walk a hundred yards. What happens if someone is illegally parked? You generally wait to see if anyone returns to the vehicle or speak to the person that’s with the vehicle. And just ask them what they’re doing there. If they have legitimate reason for parking there, then that’s okay. If they are delivering to and from premises or it's a disabled person. Then as long as they’re not causing unnecessary obstructions, There’s no problem really, obviously if it’s clearly a matter of a person is just parked there to get newspaper from the shop. There’s a parking space within a hundred yards. Yes, then they probably get dealt with. They get dealt with? I don’t like the sound of that. What does that mean exactly?
They either getting a warning or a fixed penalty ticket, which is a fine payable within 28 days.
The fine for parking illegally is 20 pounds, but depending on the circumstances, they can also receive a little yellow notice which I also issue to people in foreign vehicles because the notice is actually pre-printed in six different languages. It warns the drivers that they parked illegally and it’s very convenient, particularly for the foreign visitors. They don't necessarily know our parking rules and regulations. Therefore, they do tend to park illegally. It’s handy to put one of these little notes on there, and they like it, because it shows the British bobby has got a human heart after all. The British Bobby may have a human heart. But sometimes he or she has to take action. How popular does that make them? It makes you very unpopular with person you are dealing with. But I think you have to deal with everyone with a certain degree of tact and diplomacy. |