Page 23 - br-june-2021

June 2021

Dorset Police reorganisation

Dorset Police have recently formed two Local Police Areas (LPAs) in a bid to
better respond to the issues that matter most to communities in the county. The
two LPAs share their borders with the corresponding councils and are made up of
the County LPA, which covers the Dorset Council area and will be led by Chief
Superintendent Steve Lyne, and the BCP LPA, which covers the Bournemouth,
Christchurch and Poole Council area and will be led by Chief Superintendent
Mark Callaghan.
Police bosses hope that this will enable Dorset Police to work more proactively
with partners to strengthen plans and provide a local service that works for local
people across the two council areas. Over the coming months, there will be
opportunities for members of the public to engage directly with local officers,
both in person and on social media.

Fly-tipping

We have called for jail time
for the worst offenders of fly-
tipping - as it emerged it cost
taxpayers more than £60,000
to clean up in less than a
year. There were 1,501
incidents of fly-tipping
reported to Dorset Council
between April 2020 and
January 2021 - costing
£60,840 to clear up.
During that period, 252
investigations into incidents of
fly-tipping were carried out
which resulted in just 10 fixed penalty notices being handed out, with 47 fines for
other environmental crimes. There were 1,870 fly-tipping incidents were reported
to Dorset Council in 2019-20. Council leaders have called for an increase in the
punishment for the worst offenders of fly-tipping, which currently stands at an
unlimited fine and up to five years in prison, as well as more freedom for the
council to install video cameras to 'catch fly-tippers and litterers in the act'.
We would also welcome any change in legislation that made the Enforcement
Team’s job easier, such as less legal bureaucracy involved in installing video
cameras to catch fly-tippers and litterers in the act, or stricter rules on advertising
'man in a van' services on social media.

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