Local Policing Team
Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams consist of Neighbourhood Team Leaders (police sergeants), Neighbourhood Beat Managers (police officers) and police community support officers (PCSOs) who are accountable to their local community. A key element of the role is to undertake community engagement to understand community concerns and update them on police activity in order to build confidence.
They will work in partnership with teams both within the police (for example alcohol licensing and youth intervention) and externally (local authorities, Environmental Health and registered social landlords) to problem solve community issues. The underlying principle of our neighbourhood policing model is to intervene at the earliest possible opportunity to prevent an escalation of crime and harm.
Crimes and priorities
Our priorities
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"Red Times"
Officers from Seaton and Sidmouth will be proactively patrolling the following areas during "red times" to target driving offences, parking issues, anti-social behaviour and anti-social driving.
Seaton Primary School between the hours of 0815-0900 and 1515-1545
Beer Primary School between the hours of 0815-0900 and 1515-1545
Sidmouth Primary School (Woolbrook Road and Vicarage Road) between the hours of 1500-1600
Sidmouth College between the hours of 1500-1600
Sidbury Primary School between the hours of 1500-1600
Newton Poppleford Primary School between the hours of 1500-1600
The A3052Â between the hours of 0700-0900 and 1700-1900
This will be dependant on dynamic incidents and Officer availability but if we can be there we will be.Â
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Anti-Social Driving
We have received numerous concerning reports regarding anti-social driving in and around the area. This includes the use of faulty or excessively noisy exhausts. Main hot spots include the Underfleet and Harbour Road in Seaton and Temple Street and the Esplanade in Sidmouth.
The Neighbourhood Policing Team will be conducting regular patrols in the area and plan to carry out various operations in the coming months, dealing with any driving offences in and around the area. The team will target persistent offenders.
The local Neighbourhood Policing Team and the Special Constabulary will not hesitate to report offenders for prosecution and issue Section 59 Notices where appropriate - these are written warnings to drivers caught driving anti-socially and if they are caught driving in an anti-social manner again within 12 months their vehicle could be seized.
Action taken:
Update: 07 August 2023 - Update 7th August 2023
There have been a number of operations targeting anti-social driving in the area. This has both been by utilising dedicated policing units and our partner agencies. Our most recent operation was between the 27th and 31st July resulted in over 30 motorists in just one day being caught driving over the speed limit.
Due to the proactive work that has been carried out in recent months we have noticed a decrease in reports to us and from speaking with members of the public they too are seeing an improvement with the issue that once took over the car park at Tesco’s in Seaton.
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Rural Crime and Engagement
Rural crime is an issue for large areas of the country, but it tends to go unreported. It can impact on insurance premiums, food prices, the environment, and can damage local communities.
The Coastal Neighbourhood Team are conducting a visible presence in the rural community to offer reassurance and crime prevention. The aim is to improve connectivity with the rural communities and provide education to users of our beautiful countryside. This includes attending rural events to gain knowledge about the issues effecting the rural communities and to offer the crime prevention advice.
Action taken:
Update: 07 August 2023 - Update 7th August 2023
Throughout the last few months we have increased and continued our patrols throughout our rural communities targeting key areas and key times. This has resulted in a visual deterrent and a noticeable reduction in certain rural crime reports.
We have however noticed an increase in dog attacks throughout the summer already. This is a reminder to all dog owners that their animals need to be always under your control, whether on a lead or very confident recalls. If your animal is found to be livestock worrying the farmer can legally shoot your beloved pet.
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Vehicle Offences
Vehicle use offences are always a priority for us. Whether this be the documentation the vehicle and/or driver holds, the state and use of the vehicle or the state of the driver. Any vehicle or driver fault can have devastating results and we are finding far too many persons severely injured or killed on our roads. Our main arterial route, the A3052, has now been designated a high harm route due to the amount of serious collisions that have occurred on this stretch of road, ones which could have been easily avoided.
Action taken:
Update: 07 August 2023 - Update 7th August 2023
As stated the route has been specially designated which has resulted in there being an increased Police presence on the road from either us as the local team, dedicated roads policing units or the speed detection officers. On just one of the days, we targeted this area we seized 2 vehicles for having no tax, 7 motorists were reported for other vehicle and document defects, 2 arrests for unfit driving either through drink or drugs and over 30 motorists caught to be speeding. It is a great concern of the amount of drivers who deem it acceptable to get behind the wheel of a car when their judgement is impaired. The safest and best advice is to avoid alcohol (and obviously drugs) if you have to drive. The risk just isn’t worth that drink.