Good morning, and welcome to the latest edition of the West Wight Neighbourhood Policing Team’s monthly newsletter where we will be reflecting on a selection of policing matters from the last month.

Cowes Week created a busy but fun atmosphere for both spectators and participants, and police who worked throughout the week to ensure it was a safe event for all. There were very few incidents of note for police to deal with; the vast majority of people enjoyed the entertainment as it was intended.

West Wight officers dedicated a morning to talking to people in Birmingham Road, Cowes, who were contravening the one way road system, with education and engagement being a primary objective. No vehicles were seen to be going the wrong way but cyclists were spoken to. We know the local community has raised particular concerns around cyclists using the High Street in a potentially dangerous manner, which can put pedestrians, cyclists and all other road users at risk of injury if an accident happens. We will be out there again to follow up with more patrols.

Cycle registering and security marking was conducted at Cowes police office over 2 dates. It was pouring with rain on the first day but there was still a queue and a total of 20 cycles were marked that day. A further 10 cycles were marked on the second date.

Look out for more dates to be advertised on social media. Follow our Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/IOWightPolice

On Sunday 1st September West Wight Neighbourhood Team are holding a “FREE” Cycle Registering & Security Marking event, from 10:00 until 12:00 at the West Wight Community Centre.  Bring your cycle along, it only takes minutes to complete.

The address is: West Wight Community Centre, Moa Place, FRESHWATER, PO40 9XH

In other news, a prolific shoplifter was jailed for 20 weeks – a lot of team work was involved to get the evidence together and before court, so this is a good result for the team. Shoplifting is not a victimless crime - repeat offences in particular can create an environment of fear for many retail workers, making them feel unsafe in their own workplace. We want to stop this, and we encourage businesses and the wider community to please keep reporting shop theft to police so we can continue our efforts to support victims and disrupt those responsible.

Operation Sidlaw was launched in July this year and is an ongoing traffic operation targeting anti-social driving. Speeding in particular has been identified by Islanders in our recent surveys as a priority concern – we have listened to your concerns and taken action; Operation Sidlaw will continue to be a focus and form part of regular patrols. 

Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) is another priority identified by the Isle of Wight community through our survey work. Police in Newport have been working with the Community Safety Partnership to target ASB particularly around the Quay and Seaclose areas. We have also been robustly dealing with youth ASB in the Newport area which was affecting local business and their staff.

If you haven’t completed our survey yet to tell us what issues matter most to you, you can do this online here: https://survey.hampshirealert.co.uk/

Officers and PCSOs have also been going door to door around the Island over the last few months to survey residents on their doorsteps.

All areas have regular beat surgeries for you to attend, to chat, raise concerns or just to meet the local team. Look out on our Facebook page for these surgeries being advertised. 

We would like to thank all the local partners for their support and co-operation in seeking to resolve the issues that we were faced with in the local community, and we extend our thanks to the community themselves for their ongoing support.

As always, if you have seen anything suspicious or want to report a crime, please report this to us by calling 101. If it is an emergency or a crime is in progress, dial 999 immediately.