'Have faith' and report crimes, police urge public

PCSO supervisor Bea Gane wants to help residents in Chard

Police have urged people in a Somerset town to "have faith" in the force and raise any concerns around crime and anti-social behaviour.

Residents in Chard have reported a number of issues in recent months, including needles and drug paraphernalia being left on the street.

Avon and Somerset PCSO supervisor Bea Gane set up a community event on Monday where residents were able to get to know their neighbourhood officers and discuss the police response to the issues raised.

She said that "on the whole, Chard is a lovely place to live" but acknowledged there is some anti-social behaviour and urged people to report problems to help the force "build up our intel picture".

"We hope we've secured the trust and confidence of our communities, to really encourage them to report any issues they have and have faith in our response," Ms Gane added.

The event featured police officers from a number of teams, as well as organisations that work with the force in the town.

Ms Gane said they were "really concerned" about what she said was the "under-reporting" of crime in the town and encouraged the public to "look beyond any nervousness they might feel around the uniform".

She told BBC Radio Somerset there was a "wealth of reasons" people may not report issues.

"I think part of it is a belief that other people are reporting things so they don't need to, sort of 'I don't want to get involved, I've seen it on Facebook, someone else will have told the police so I don't need to'," she said.

"But actually it's so important to hear [from the community] every time and that helps us build up our intel picture so we can really target those areas and put our resources into those places."

She added that low level crimes, such as "banging on doors" should also be reported, as it has a "huge impact on your life".

Jeannie McManus said young people in Chard find the police "unapproachable"

The community event took place at Lower Henson Park and was attended by Young Somerset and Chard Watch.

Jeannie McManus, a senior youth worker at Young Somerset, highlighted a difficult relationship between young people and the police.

"We have had an incident where things were thrown at [the police]," she said.

"So we are really working quite hard to try and mend those bridges.

"Hopefully we can get a better relationship with young people and the police and for them to feel comfortable in their area, which at the moment a lot of young people don't feel safe."

She added there is a referral-only youth group in the town, which the organisation is hoping to make permanent.