Real winter and another explosion to deal with
By Richard Corrigan (1352) 14th January 2010 10:07 AM

Although it is already a couple of weeks ago I hope you all had good Christmas and New Year celebrations. I was on call for part of this period but was only called out twice on Boxing Day so I was able to catch up with family with fairly minimal disruption.

What a start to 2010!! Two periods of heavy snow have made life difficult for everyone in Bristol. As an emergency service it is obviously essential that we have really effective plans to ensure that our staff are available to work and respond to calls from the public. During the first week I managed to get to Broadbury Road police station in South Bristol and after ringing around was delighted to find that 90 per cent of our staff had turned up on time ready to get on with the job.

These people are not supermen and women but the commitment to be here on time, with some leaving home at 4.30am to 'parade' for 7am was something I was very proud of. There were many stories over this period of us catching vehicle criminals by following snow tracks and lots of heart-warming stories of helping people in times of need. Although crime does reduce in times of very poor weather the business of policing does continue with little practical difference in terms of demand. The demand does change to feature more highways issues but the call volume overall does stay about the same.

A week ago today, January 07 2010, a day after the heavy snow, I was at Broadbury Road when we got a call about an explosion at Whitby Road. For those that remember I dealt with a similar incident in Bath about 18 months ago, when cylinders exploded at Southgate. This time the situation was much worse as the explosion had occured at the BOC manufacturing plant and the risk to the wider public was significantly greater.

It was a little like groundhog day as, when I arrived for the first command meeting, the same fire commanders were at the scene as in Bath so the well-rehearsed plan was implemented.

From a police point of view we co-ordinate the response but we are also in charge of certain things, especially in the early stages of an incident like this. In the initial stages we lead on managing access to the scene, cordons and traffic plan, investigation, evacuation and media and communications.

As you will know, seven days after the first explosion, the fire is still burning. The best way of describing this situation is to liken it to a gas hob. If the flame is burning it is reasonably safe although over time the heat will build up so there is a risk. If however you put the flame out and let the gas flow the gas will build up and if there is an ignition you have another explosion. If you apply this to a factory which has hundreds of cylinders and a much larger fire you have some idea of the magnitude of the risk and the danger that the services are dealing with.

I know the incident has caused some disruption, but I hope that knowing what we are dealing with you understand we are just trying to keep everyone safe!

That is all for now, I have to attend various command meetings today which are designed to bring this to a conclusion and we are holding a public meeting to share more detail with those directly affected.

Richard

Plugging in a new computer system!!!
By Richard Corrigan (1352) 16th December 2009 12:18 PM

We have recently plugged in a new computer system and as any of you will know who work with computers, this can be a very trying time.

There are many issues to deal with, from technical issues, to people becoming familiar with a new system and having to adjust to new ways of working.

There is always a feeling that we work around a new system rather than the system fitting around us. I am heading up a local team to ensure we deal effectively with the current teething problems but when we get this working correctly and people get used to the new system it should bring real benefits to way we work. It should free us from some bureacracy and duplication. The system is called SAP which is an international and respected brand. Lewis Hamilton wears their sponsership on his helmet and as I have been saying, alhough he is brilliant he has been known to crash from time to time. If we work through this we should reach the finishing line in better shape.

I also write on the run up to Christmas and New Year and again this will be an exceptionally busy time for our staff. I am working throughout this period and am force "on call" on Boxing Day, so no drinks for me this year!!

Bristol has over 300 licensing premises around the city centre and it is clear with all the festivities and high spirits we will be busy working to keep the streets safe for people to enjoy. I have no doubt that our custody units will be bursting at the seams and people will be waking up with sore heads and not enjoying the kind of breakfast they were hoping for.

My message is always simple, this should be a celebratory time of year, enjoy it but stay safe.

I finish off the year really optimistic for 2010. My parents have never really liked New Year. They always have the view that if it didn't happen this year it will probably happen next, and they are not referring to positive stories. I on the other hand like to be more optimistic. From a policing point of view we have made real progress again this year despite the hardship felt by many people with the economic position. I know that I referred to this last time but by actually looking at the reduction in real victims for important areas of crime, we have a lot to be proud of. All of the below is compared to this time last year and refers to Bristol.

3,400 fewer victims of crime
400 fewer victims of house burglary
450 fewer theft of motor vehicles
880 fewer victims of theft from a motor vehicle.

These are substantial reductions is crimes that matter most to the public. There is always more that can be done and we will all be looking to build on this next year. In the meantime I really do wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and whatever you are doing, please do enjoy it.

Richard

True partnership work does tackle crime
By Richard Corrigan (1352) 20th November 2009 8:49 AM

I wanted to share a recent story with you which really highlights the true power of a partnership in tackling crime. As the case is still awaiting trial I will need to leave some details out.

Back in September a number of crimes were reported to us involving a man and a woman targeting mainly elderly victims and either offering goods for a vastly reduced rate or actually distracting the occupants before burgling their home.

Because of the vulnerability of some of the victims, initially our lines of enquiry were thin and even after half a dozen offences, we did not have really clear clues on who the offenders were.

In these circumstances we always put a plan in place and this includes:
* making sure we make the most of any forensic evidence by securing the scene
* patrol plans to ensure that our patrol staff are in the right place at the right time to maximise our chance of catching those responsible
* working with Neighbourhood Watch to act as our eyes and ears and
* a lot of detective work in the background, linking the offences and exploring all lines of enquiry to hunt the offenders down.

After several more similar offences we suddenly received information from a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator about a suspicious couple in the target area. We responded to this information and the suspects were arrested and taken into the cells.

I became involved because there are rules about how long we can detain people. If the investigating officer wants to hold a person for longer than 24 hours they need to have this authorised by a superintendent.

I authorised a further period to ensure that we had sufficent time to go through all of the offences and the evidence that we had available. The result of everyone's hard work was that the man was detained and the woman is still (to coin a popular phrase) helping us with our enquiries!!!

The job satisfaction in tackling a series of offences like this is enormous for the staff involved who clearly worked long hours. The series of offences has stopped and I hope that we have prevented more people from falling victim to doorstep crime on the run up to Christmas.

If you are worried about doorstep crime, or have a vulnerable elderly relative or friend, please visit the crime prevention pages of our website. This sort of crime can be prevented by always putting the door chain on and checking identification before letting anyone into your home.

On a slightly wider note I am giving talking next week to a group of individuals who are moving to Bristol for work or personal reasons. As part of my research for this I was looking back at our recent past in relation to crime levels. Although there is always some suspicion over crime figures, I thought I would share some of my findings.

In 2009 compared to 2002, Bristol now has 25,000 fewer victims of crime. Even compared to last year the city is recording over 3000 fewer victims of crime compared to this time last year which is very significant as we are only six months into the recording period.

This is, I am sure you will agree a really positive story and involves a lot of hard work by a large number of people including numerous partner agencies. I will talk next time of some of the initiatives in Bristol that are really contributing to this reduction in crime in the city.