A scheme to protect vulnerable elderly people while cracking down on criminals in Abingdon has been such a success police say they plan to extend it.
In the run up to Christmas cops launched the VERA (Vale Elderly Resident Action) scheme, which involves police community support officers (PCSOs) regularly checking up on over-75s who may feel vulnerable or have been a victim of crime.
At the same time, Vale of White Horse police officers continued to focus on a “robust policing drive” also launched last year that has seen them making repeated visits to offenders' homes to remind them to stay out of trouble. This has involved visiting them on their birthdays and even interrupting their Christmas dinners to tell crooks to keep their noses clean.
And both initiatives seem to be working, with grateful pensioners queuing up to thank coppers while crime figures in the Vale of White Horse continue to drop. According to the latest police statistics, the number of assaults fell 20 per cent between April and January compared to the same period a year ago, criminal damage fell 21 per cent and burglaries were also down 14.2 per cent, with none in the two weeks leading up to Friday, January 29.
Vale of White Horse chief Inspector Andy Boyd told the Journal: “We are challenging the criminals and protecting the vulnerable - they are the two big strands of work we are currently engaged in. In my view caring for vulnerable people in the community is what the public expect us to be doing, as well as catching criminals and keeping the peace.”
Over Christmas, residents on the VERA scheme received hampers from Tesco delivered by PCSOs, and officers also visited pensioners during the snow to make sure tye were safe. Ch Insp Boyd said feedback from the scheme had been so good, he was speaking to other agencies, including youth groups, to come up with ways to extend it.
“Over Christmas we visited one 85-year-old man who lives on his own, has no family or relatives and the only person he saw over Christmas was one of our PCSOs,” said Ch Insp Boyd. “I take a great deal of pride in ensuring that individual had a pleasant Christmas.
"At the same time, before Christmas every single prolific offender was visited and reminded we work 365 days a year and we will be watching them.”
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