Tight resources mean Thanet has just three dedicated beat patch officers – but more are on the way

Thanet's District Commander says says other policing resources are available to bolster support Photo Chris Constantine

Exclusive Jodie Nesling

Only three dedicated beat police officers -tasked with patrolling a specific area – are assigned to Thanet despite the area recording the highest crime rate in the county, The Isle of Thanet News can reveal.

At a recent community meeting in Cliftonville one officer said: “There are three beat officers in Thanet, so if they are in Cliftonville together and Central Harbour is busy, it can be difficult, but we hope to be getting more.”

District Commander for Thanet, Chief Inspector Lara Connor, says other resources are available to bolster support. She said: “‘Thanet is served by several dedicated resources, including the beat officers, Local Policing Teams, the community policing team and the Police Community Support Officers who all carry out patrols, and will respond to calls in Thanet.

“Further support is provided by many other departments, according to the requirements of any incident reported.”

Ch Insp Connor also told a meeting of Ramsgate business owners in May that additional beat officers were to be drafted in for Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate and Cliftonville.

Concerned residents at the meeting told officers they often witness drug deals transacted in broad daylight, and while the advice is to call 999 if a crime is in action, the suspects were usually long gone before officers can arrive at the scene.

Police at the scene of the Margate sands incident

Recent violent incidents include a mass brawl on Margate Main Sands, and most recently at last month’s Broadstairs summer fireworks where fighting youths caused disruption and two teenagers were arrested.

According to the Kent Police website there are five Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) who are tasked with patrolling the 23 wards.

But while providing a valuable support service PCSOs retain limited powers, including the right to arrest a suspect.

An increased police presence on the streets is often seen as a crime deterrent and reassures the public especially when low level reported crime is not prioritised due to limited resources.

Chairman of Athelstan Road Tenant’s and Residents Association (ARTRA), Matt Shoul, says he has called 101 on numerous occasions following incidents in the street but they are yet to be dealt with. He said: “Two hours of drinking/shouting/shrieking/urinating in the street – on  Athelstan Road – started at 10pm.

“Despite my two calls to 101 there was no police attendance – this atrocious ASB began around 10pm on July 27 and it  continued until almost 1am.”

Last year Kent Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott announced plans to recruit a further 200 officers but savage budget cuts of £18m in 2010, and a further £10m this year, means resources are tight and the number of officers still remains at 500 less than nine years ago.

Figures released in December show that  Thanet has the highest crime rate in the county. The crime rate for violent and sexual crimes was the highest in Kent.

39 Comments

    • So Kent is bad for crime thanet being the worse.
      I see that in a decade almost we just keep getting cuts across the whole of Kent. No wonder my DBS takes them months to get processed. No flipping staff….
      Officers at the port cost Kent £18m every time.. That figures…

  1. Athelstan Road, multi culturism at its finest… When we complained to police about similar we were told that sort of thing is part of their culture….

    • Or as happened after the child prostitution going on in edgar road about 12 years ago, no publicity on the grounds of not wanting to stigmatise certain sections of the community.
      Dumped rubbish was not going to acted upon as it was common practice in some eastern european countries.
      Drug dealing in Edgar Road ( Hatherley Court , Julian Court) “ best just to disrupt rather than arrest, as they’ll only be replaced by other dealers”.
      Cliftonville last had a dedicated ( in all senses of the word) back around 2004, excellent officer that worked his area tirelessly.
      We then had officers as part of the margate task force, but these have either vanished or have had their area widened massively.
      Witnessed and photographed an assault in Dalby Square, ( middle of the day, drug related from the shouting) police did’nt even want a copy of the pictures, which clearly showed the victim , the main assailant and his hangers on.
      But no doubt the next set of figures for the area will show a decreas in crime / asb, but this will be mainly as a result of,
      Council no longer using Glenwwod for emergency housing
      Hatherley Court having a new local letting policy ( no more out of area miscreants )
      Closure of several care homes / childrens homes / hostels for ex offenders.

      But not a lot done to deal with the problem makers living in the area.

    • Labour of love Party had a chance and let’s see
      Created the ramsgate ferry debt
      Animal transport debt
      Never charged SHL so they were going to write the debt off £176k but already wiped off ex councilors debt of £67k

  2. The crime rate for violent and sexual crimes was the highest in Kent.

    Yet thanet is a tory stronghold I really dont understand this l. The Tories dont give a dam about thanet it’s not yet rich enough for the Tories to worry about. So why are both our MP’s tory along with a Tory lead TDC. Wake up and smell the gravy people!!!!

    • They don’t commit the crime people do.
      Shows that the people who are in office are not reducing it by not doing anything which is a trait of this council tory or labour

  3. When Labour left power, there were 23,000 more Police Officers working than now. Labour introduced the “Three strikes and you’re out” law which meant that anyone committing three serious violent crimes automatically got the equivalent of a Life sentence but with a date to work towards to prove they were safe to let out under strict conditions. The Tories abolished that law as it meant that the prisons became crowded and they were not prepared to pay for all the courses and programmes those offenders needed to complete before release.
    Yet, to this day, millions still think of the Tories as the “Law and Order Party”.
    Meanwhile,Surestart centres to help with children in their very early years have been closed by Tory cuts. The Youth Service has almost disappeared so no youth clubs etc.
    People with mental health problems wait years for treatment.
    I am amazed that the crime rate isn’t even higher!

  4. What the hell has gone wrong with Thanet.lived there from 1947 until 1977.it was a beautiful place to live and enjoy yourself. We never locked our doors had great street parties and neighbors got together for a great barbecue and a few bevvies. It literally breaks my heart to see how much it has gone down the slippery path to what it is now. We still come back every Xmas and stay at the Premier Inn on margate sea front we will always think of margate as our home but alas could never live there permanently. Its so sad.

    • Arthur Solly: Years of Tory governments and their lack of interest in people’s well-being, in their health, education and housing. It’s not “What the hell has gone wrong with Thanet?” that you should be asking. It’s “Why the hell do people keep voting Tory, especially in Kent?”

      • Really, all went down hill from early 80’s on , governments of all hues since, none have had any great interest in turning thanet around, but enthusiastically used it to dump many of lifes least fortunate.

      • Steve Ladyman, Labour MP was the South Thanet MP from 1997 to 2010.
        The constituency hasn’t always been Conservative.

  5. I have voted in the past for Labour / Conservatives / Lib Dem’s. I only vote for the party that I think has the plans that I I want them to do. However some voters would vote for the Tories even if they planned to sell all our grandmothers to the Arabs. There has NEVER been one Tory action that has been without serious consequences in the long term. Selling off council houses =housing shortage. Selling off the railways = Highest rail fares in Europe.
    Privatisation of some of the prison services = the highest violence and assault on staff in European prisons.
    Cutting police numbers by 20,000 = massive increase in crime. High business rates =caused thousands of businesses to fail. The list is endless. The blind could not care less I’m alright jack not in my back yard selfish love themselves up there own you know where Tories will still vote Tory. The worst thing YOU can do is not to vote. Use your vote and be grateful you have the right to vote for whoever you want to.

  6. The lot that only vote Tory believe all the nonsense that our right wing media spew out on a daily basis. Just look who they have put in number 10, the epitome of a bumbling over educated Buffoon who wouldn’t recognise the truth if it was dressed in a short skirt and stockings, although perhaps he would as he clearly is nothing more than a persistent womaniser and liar. Perfect for the tories. They would rather have this dinosaur that risk having a labour leader who they know will come after them with all he can. Bring on!

    • You clearly would prefer a party in which Anti semitism is rife?
      Boris Johnson whom you describe as a buffoon won a scholarship to Eton unlike Jeremy Corbyn whose academic achievement is rather poor.

      • I would prefer a socialist party.

        Boris Johnson may have been to Eton but that that doesn’t mean he is a good politician or indeed a moral individual.

        • I didn’t say that going to Eton made him a better politician, I was replying to Seen it all Before who said he was a buffoon.
          Unfortunately the Labour party with its socialist values has been taken over by the hard left.

      • Boris Johnson was sacked from his job ad a journalist at the Times for falsifying information.
        Just the sort of chap we need for PM.

  7. its always the same when gipsies arrive on the scene we need to stop encouraging criminals and make the sentences more severe this is the result of a mamby pambe attitude get street wise and tougher.

    Keith

  8. What are the hard left’s values?

    i think Johnson’s a buffoon too. Being highly educated doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve got a lot of common sense.

  9. If wanting to feed children during the summer holidays, wanting more police on the beat, wanting to eradicate homelessness and wanting to end zero contracts I’m proud to be called hard left

    • Your aims are admirable. Unfortunately hard left policies are extreme and you can see their effect in counties like Venezuela.

    • Confused Brexit policy. Anti capitalist, anti business, anti Western, high taxation, high borrowing, high spending, state ownership,support for flying pickets. Support for dubious regimes.
      Just a few to be going on with….

      • What’s wrong with being anti-capitalist and state ownership? These surely are not far left but standard socialist policies. What do you mean by “anti-Western”? Low taxation leads to lack of funding for things society really needs. Dubious regimes? Different ones from what Tories support,if any!

  10. Tories:
    Confused Brexit policy
    High Borrowing
    Support for dubious regiems …

    I see nothing wrong with being anti capitalist. Nor in paying taxes for the services we expect.
    State ownership: look at the state of the railways, the national grid, the Probation service.

  11. Corbyn wants to raise taxes for small and medium sized businesses.
    I suggest this policy out-buffoons Boris by a country mile.

    • This whole thread is about inadequte police resources in Thanet. It was the Tory govt, under Theresa May as Home Secretary, that cut police numbers by 22000.
      If we want more police, then they must be paid for. One quite conventional way to raise money for public services is for the public to pay taxes one way and another.
      What do you suggest?

  12. Mr. Macawber reads too much Daily Mail garbage to give him a healthy view of how we get services paid for. Like most tories they don’t think they should pay for things they can buy with their ill gotten means, usually at the hands of their employees. Come off it, you know that the next Labour government will go for the big boys who have a field day over the last almost 10’years under a succession of Thacherite Tory leaders and their policies aimed at the poorest and therefore weakest members of society. Bin the Daily Mail old fruit, try reading the history books and you’ll see what’s happened when we have a conservative government in power, the rich get richer, the poor can go fry!

    • I’m not a Tory. I don’t read the daily mail. You need to take a breath before you give yourself a hernia and stop assuming stuff about people you don’t know.

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