Happy last week of term two!
I have mentioned that Cambridge Community Patrol are our extra eyes and ears. Our frontline team want to say thanks for some great assistance from their patrollers that occurred recently.
On two occasions the patrollers have highlighted suspicious cars when tasked to patrol the Appleby Road area. Both times, Police attended and spoke to the vehicle occupants, uncovering stashes of drugs and cash. These were great deterrence and disruption opportunities. By working together, we all achieve a safer town.
For most schools, holidays arrive again this weekend for two weeks. We usually see an increase in youth offending during the holidays due to a lack of supervision and more free time, this is especially the case when children are wandering in groups. Given that we are already experiencing issues in this area, please be sure to plan for childcare in this time. There are a number of holiday programme options available including Four Peaks (Cambridge Primary), Journey Kids (Cambridge East 5-15yrs), Kelly Sports (Hautapu School), ‘sKids’ (St Peter’s Catholic) plus Elim and Ignite Arts Academy. Most can be accessed using an Oscar Subsidy.
If entertaining children under the age of 14 with playgrounds, parks and the skate park, be sure that you supervise them while there, or arrange for confirmed appropriate supervision. Just as you would not leave them at our local pool on their own, it is not sufficient to rely on random other parents or teenagers being also present or for children to be left free to roam. The skate park in particular has been the location of disorder and antisocial behaviour in recent weeks, partly made possible by a lack of such appropriate adult supervision.
As always with the holidays, if you are going away, be sure to lock and secure your home and let neighbours know you will not be home. Consider installing CCTV (there are some cost effective solutions available these days, footage of which you can remotely view from your mobile phone). Do not advertise the fact that you are away on social media, especially if you will be away for a long period of time (for example, going overseas). When travelling, plan your trip, drive to the conditions and take regular breaks to refresh. There will be more traffic on the roads than normal, so allow plenty of time and remain patient. If you see dangerous driving (drivers weaving all over the road, overtaking into oncoming traffic, speeding and tailgating) call 111 and record the driving on your phone or dashcam if possible. Most of all, have a great trip and enjoy the time to relax.
In other news, we have all watched with excitement the construction of the new Police station being built on the corner of Victoria and Fort Streets. The latest news is that we expect to relocate staff to the new base in early August. It will be great to have a purpose built building that is more central to our community.
Have a great week and stay safe, Deb
