Published July 18th, 2008
21st century policing?
The Police Authority met today to discuss their “Estates Transformation Strategy”. To you and me that probably means closure of police stations. The press have highlighted 4 potential sites for closure - Crosshills, Settle, Ripon, and Knaresborough and it was confirmed last night at Kildwick Parish Meeting by a local Police Inspector. The worrying aspect of this latest development is the linking of it to the review of workforce structures also taking place.
Last year our area suffered through the net loss of 2 officers after a restructure. It seems if the crime statistics point to the marshaling of resources towards Harrogate and york we will suffer again. Therein lies the problem. Reported crime may be down but unreported crime will not have dropped and probably risen. If our local station closes how much harder will it be for us to report incidents of crime(an easy question to answer for those who have tried to wrestle with police phone system), I anticipate many will give up trying.
The morale of our officers is low, Settle officers living in police houses have been given notice of eviction. Whilst I recognise the need for the police to review all aspects of its service I wonder what financial imperative could be behind this. I hope that the multi million £ cost of Harrogates “super station” will not influence the decision, especially in light of the potentially large capital receipt from the sale of 4 pieces of prime real estate.
It seems our community is about to take another hit. First a reduction in our bus service, then post offices and now our police stations are about to go the same way. Surely enough is enough. We deserve as much of a police service as urban areas - crime whatever the perceived level of severity - has a long lasting affect on the victim.
The Police Authority states the following as objectives -
Promoting safer neighbourhoods through - Increasing levels of public satisfaction with the police service
Reducing volume crime
Reducing antisocial behaviour
Promoting safer roads – reducing the number of casualties through road traffic accidents.
Will the closure of our local stations really help them to achieve those objectives? At Crosshills there is talk of a shop front operation manned by civilian staff to field questions (possibly on Main Street).
Is this really a solution to provide a 21st century police force to deal with the demands of our communities?
There will be a public consultation on these issues - make sure your views are known.
Published April 23rd, 2008
trading standards - newsflash
Another scam uncovered by NYCC trading standards department -
North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards and Regulatory Services are warning business to be aware of companies’ cold telephone calling.
Several local businesses have been targeted by various advertising companies from the Liverpool area, portraying them selves as working on behalf of the local Fire Service, in aid of the Drink, Drive Campaign.
The aim is to get businesses to agree to advertising, anyone who has agreed to have an advert placed, is being charged in the region of £100. Once they agree to this, they are then subjected to an influx of calls from similar companies requesting payment of the same money or offering further advertising.
We have spoken with the local Fire Service, who have informed us that this is not the way they would operate, and they are not currently working in connection with a publication company.
If you need further advice please contact Trading Standards on the details below or contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06
Published February 18th, 2008
North Yorkshire Trading Standards bulletin
Phishing scam aimed at Nationwide customers Most people will have received e-mails which appear to be from banks and similar organisations requesting personal information, these types of e-mails are used by criminals attempting to obtain bank and other account details for fraudulent purposes. This sort of scam is known as ‘phishing’ and is a form of identity theft. North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards and Regulatory Services have received many reports of attempts to get account details from customers from all the high street banks as well as passwords for e-bay accounts and the like. The most recent one that has been brought to our attention is headed in the subject field “Nationwide Bank account Security Verification needed” Our advice is to be extremely cautious about any requests for account details. The banks will not contact customers in this way to obtain account details so the best response is to treat all such messages with suspicion, not to give any personal information and to contact your bank. Reporting such e-mails These e-mails can be reported to the relevant banks or organisations they are purporting to be from. Most banks and similar organisations have a section on their websites for reporting such scams. There is also a section on the “banksafeonline” website to report such scams. Useful websites http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/ This is a website run by APACS, the UK’s payments association. Bank Safe Online is the UK banking industry’s initiative to help online banking customers stay safe online. www.getsafeonline.org This website is sponsored by government and leading businesses and provides expert advice to protect everyone against internet threats. If you need further advice please contact Trading Standards on details below. Regards North Yorkshire Trading StandardsTel: 01609 534868Fax: 01609 771696E-mail: business.advice@northyorks.gov.uk You have been sent this email because you completed the Trading Standards Questionnaire to receive Trading Standards News Flash Messages. If you would like to un-subscribe from further information from Trading Standards, please send an email to trading.standards@northyorks.gov.uk marked unsubscribe and you will be removed from the list. Regards North Yorkshire Trading StandardsFor clear, practical consumer advice call Consumer Direct on08454 04 05 06 or visitwww.consumerdirect.gov.uk
