Police Commander sets out targets for the year ahead

The 2010/11 Policing Plan for Newtownabbey, developed by the PSNI after extensive consultation with the District Policing Partnership, the community and local police officers, was officially launched at Mossley Mill on Monday (April 19).

Based on the Chief Constable's three guiding principles of "professional, protective and personal policing", the document sets local police a broad range of targets for this financial year.

Speaking at the launch, Area Commander for Newtownabbey, Chief Inspector Paula Hilman said: "This local plan will play a key role in helping us deliver a professional policing service for the people of Newtownabbey.

"The plan is aimed at identifying local priorities on which police will concentrate resources and operations in the coming year. The targets are set against police performance in the preceding 12 months.

"My job is to ensure that we address the issues that are right at the forefront of local people's concerns. We owe it to the community to provide an effective, personal, progressive and professional policing service tailored for the needs of this area. The closer our ties with the community are, and the more two-way dialogue we engage in, the greater our chances of delivering just that."

During her address, the Chief Inspector outlined how the past year has seen a 13.7 per cent reduction in violent crimes, a 14.6 per cent drop in assaults and a 19.3 per cent decrease in robberies. However, she also revealed that burglaries continue to be a significant problem across the borough, adding that she and her officers will be redoubling their efforts to crack down on this sort of crime in the year ahead.

"We must not become complacent and will continue to work closely with the community and partner agencies to help make Newtownabbey a safer place," she said.

Pointing to the 4.2 per cent drop in overall crime and the 6.9 per cent improvement in the clearance rate achieved by local officers over the past 12 months, the Area Commander added: "The new plan will push those boundaries even further and will only be achievable with the help and support of the local community and our key partners.

"The more we work together, the more we can achieve and hopefully improve the quality of life for the residents of Newtownabbey."

Commenting after the launch event, the Chairman of Newtownabbey DPP, Councillor Fraser Agnew, said: "We are pleased to see that the local police have included our suggested targets and areas of concern which were highlighted by members of the public during extensive public consultation. It is through the work conducted by the DPP that the objectives and targets in the plan are set and these are reflective of the needs of the local community.

"Newtownabbey DPP robustly monitors the performance of the police against the policing plan at private and public meetings. I would however encourage members of the public to attend our public meetings so they can have their say on how they think the police are performing in their area."