Out on Patrol – Bicester town centre

Last Friday evening (12th December), members of the Neighbourhood Policing Team and Cherwell District Council’s Community Safety Team patrolled together in and around Bicester town centre. This partnership working was part of a joint strategy to tackle issues linked to the night time economy.

We visited several licenced premises together – three minor alcohol licence infringements and one environmental protection matter were noted and dealt with.

Whilst there, we also spoke to staff about the “Ask Angela” scheme. This is a safety initiative in pubs, bars etc where anyone feeling threatened (eg: on a date that takes an unsafe turn) can discreetly ask staff for “Angela”, prompting trained staff to help them leave safely, call a taxi, or contact security/police. Follow up actions were agreed by the venues spoken to, including training for staff and displaying posters to promote the scheme.

We also handed out posters to the licence premises to display now – these promoted information on the Cherwell District Council for those experiencing domestic abuse can access support and help. https://www.cherwell.gov.uk/domesticabuse

We took two stops outside Torino Lounge in Sheep Street to hold two short “mini surgeries”. We had lots of discussion with people who stopped to speak to us re: socialising safely, for instance, awareness of drink spiking offences and travelling home safely. We gave out several freebies in the form of personal safety equipment like alarms and anti-spiking kits.

We also utilised the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) powers given to both police and Community Wardens (as designated persons) to stop two youths causing further anti-social behaviour in Bicester town centre. The remainder of our patrol passed without incident.