Is support for police worth £5,000 a year? (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Is support for police worth £5,000 a year?

Community Support Officers could be walking the beat in Wootton Bassett if proposals from the police and town council win support.

The police and council want the opinion of townspeople on whether they believe the officers are necessary, and whether they consider them to be worth £5,000 a year from the council's budget.

Although Wootton Bassett is generally a low crime area, there have been spates of vandalism and petty crime in areas like Beeman's Lane and Lime Kiln.

Councillors hope the officers will be able to bridge the gap between the police and the community, as they have already in successful schemes in Chippenham and Calne.

Coun John Allen said: "There have been trials of community support officers in Calne and Corsham and they have proved very successful there.

"Although we are a fairly low crime town we do have our problems and community support officers may be able to help with these."

But the big question is cost.

Coun Allen said: "The problem is whether we can afford it.

"The Government will give us a small amount of money for the first two years, but after that it will be up to us to fund it.

"We don't have any money laid aside for this, so it may be a question of abandoning agreed projects like the children's playground.

"Obviously this is a very serious issue so we want the public to tell us whether they think community support officers are important enough for us to divert funding to."

Funding the officers will cost the town around £5,000 a year, although there are proposals for each town to pay according to its crime rate in which case Wootton Bassett, as a relatively safe town, would have to pay less.

Anyone who wants to express their views on this issue can either write to the town council at Cascade Offices, 118 High Street, Wootton Bassett or speak at the public question time at every meeting of the town council.

Community support officers began patrolling the streets of Wiltshire a year ago. In Chippenham, two support officers were so successful in curbing the anti-social behaviour of teenagers hanging around streets that they were seconded to Calne.

After just one month, residents in Calne could see a marked difference.

Calne police were equally keen on the idea as it gives the kind of "bobby on the beat" presence that people in the town want to help them feel safe, while at the same time freeing police officers to get on with investigating more serious crimes.

Community support officers have also been welcomed in Swindon.

The officers first hit the beat in the borough in October, tasked with patrolling areas that have particularly high levels of crime or anti-social behaviour.

They were welcomed by Swindon police, who believe they have had a positive effect both on crime and the fear of crime. South Swindon MP Julia Drown was also impressed.

She said: "My constituents make it clear they want to see more done to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

"By adding to the work of the street wardens and the police, the community support officers can get out the message that anti-social and criminal behaviour will be tackled.

"This has had a direct impact on the quality of life in Swindon."