Residents act with PACT

Release Date:  22-May-2009

Residents across Bristol are being urged to make a PACT with the agencies working in their neighbourhoods to make the city safer and cleaner.

There are 22 PACT (Partners and Community Together) schemes across Bristol, which bring together local people with Safer Bristol’s partner organisations, including Avon & Somerset Police, the city council and other agencies, to prioritise the key issues that will improve safety and build community confidence.

These PACT priorities can range from anti-social behaviour and drugs to dangerous driving and burglaries.   Residents who attend PACT meetings and visit the Avon and Somerset police website are able to decide what they are for their area.

Safer Bristol sees community engagement as a key element in helping rid the city of crime and drug misuse and improving the quality of life for all residents.

In May the PACT priority issues raised throughout Bristol over recent months were targeted in a day of action staged as part of Avon & Somerset Police’s Operation Relentless, the ongoing exercise targeting crime in the city.

Arrest warrants were executed in a number of areas and officers worked in partnership with court enforcement teams and city council departments to deal with individuals who had failed to appear at court.

Rick Palmer, Director of Safer Bristol, said: “The exercise, demonstrated how PACTs are playing a crucial role in improving local communities”. “PACT partners are listening to the views of the local community and acting on the issues that concern them most. By working closely together in this way we can make our city a safer, cleaner place.

“PACTs allow the public a bigger say in how the issues they are concerned about most are tackled in their own communities.”

During the course of the day PCSOs worked with the Safer Bristol Partnership to carry out a crime and disorder survey targeting areas where PACT engagement has traditionally been low to get a more representative view of people’s issues and priorities.

 “We hope that this day will also be an opportunity for local people who may not usually have dialogue with police or the other agencies to give us their views and help us understand what is important to them.”

PACT meetings take place every two months and are open to all residents in the area. Any issue can be discussed and a vote is taken at the end of each meeting to identify three topics that then become priorities for the neighbourhood team. As well as the neighbourhood team, meetings are attended by a range of council departments including highways, housing, environmental services and youth services.

Specialist teams such as the police drugs squad, the council’s anti-social behaviour team can be called in by the neighbourhood officers.   Staff from Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have also been attending to help increase public awareness surrounding their role within the criminal justice system.

To find out which PACT covers your area of the city and when the next meeting is, type your postcode into the local pages search engine on www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/localpages or call 0845 456 7000.

The site also carries updated information on action taken on each PACT’s priority issues.

Author:   Vicky O'Loughlin

For all media enquiries relating to this press release, please contact Corporate Communications on 0117 922 2650.

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