Week commencing 1st February 2010

Some problems with vandals damaging people's garden fencing has highlighted an issue which needs addressing - reporting incidents. Some residents do not report incidents to the Police and in many cases this is because the incident is not happening at the time so they think the Police will not be able to do anything.

Whilst it may not be easy to take action on a perpetrator who has been and gone, it is information like this which directs evening patrols for the Safer Neighbourhood Wardens. We have strong links with the Police via our Anti-Social Behaviour Team at the Council and weekly briefings along with ad hoc information sharing enables both Wardens and Police Community Support Officers to target areas where problems have occurred. If your area is being targetted by unruly groups, and you feel it is perhaps not a job for Police Officers, then please do contact us on 01283 595943 and we can ensure the area is patrolled.

To balance the above I would again re-iterate that South Derbyshire has far less than it's fair share of groups that act in an anti-social way. I am sure that this is in part down to the community spirit which still exists in this area. In the words of Nick Ross, "don't have nightmares, sleep well".

Week commencing 25th January 2010

Another relatively quiet mid-winter week as far as anti-social behaviour is concerned.

A report of 50 to 60 youths creating chaos in Melbourne on Friday night turned out to be around 18 youths who did not appear to be doing anything untoward. The Wardens kept an eye on them until they dispersed.

During the week some training was undertaken with the commencement of a BTEC in Neighbourhood Nuisance and Anti-Social Behaviour and later in the week some hostile situations training. One fly tipping incident led to the commencement of an investigation.

In between were the usual patrols for littering etc. and dealing with stray dogs, barking complaints and abandoned vehicles to name just a few.

Warden introduction - Steve Yates

Steve Yates is the most recent addition to the Warden team. Steve started with SDDC just before Christmas 2009. He has previously spent 9 years in the Maritime Division of the British Army as a Marine Engineer, working aboard both harbour launches and landing craft as well as ocean going transport vessels.

Following Steve's stint in the Army he spent 16 years as a Prison Officer serving at the majority of the prisons within the Midlands, including Birmingham, Nottingham and Stafford. Steve's travels took him into some of the larger London establishments and involved working with some of our more high profile offenders. His experiences in the Prison Service has also included work with both female and young offenders.

Steve left the Prison Service in 2005 and has since undertaken some residential child care to work with young people with emotional and behavioural problems before joining SDDC.

On the subject of joining SDDC Steve says in his own words: "I joined the Council looking for further challenges and I am currently busy learning new faces, names and procedures. Personally I am divorced with two grown up daughters who live in London and Fallingbostel and the proud Grandfather of Isabelle and Alex who also live in Fallingbostel with their Mum and Dad (who is a serving soldier). My spare time is spent reading, gardening and doing as my current partner tells me".