THE business community of Salisbury and south Wiltshire is less than satisfied with the service it gets from its police force, a meeting at the city's White Hart Hotel heard last week.

The meeting, organised by Salisbury & District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, heard pleas for more officers on patrol to prevent criminals stealing and damaging property at will.

There were also difficulties in contacting the police via its 0845 number.

Lance Foord, of Salisbury business Nu Clean, said it was ridiculous to have a number which nobody could remember, and city centre manager Lindsey Brown said the number could ring for 20 minutes before it was answered.

She added more officers were needed on the streets - not just on Friday and Saturday nights, but during the day too.

Landford farmer Mike Smales said that, having endured thefts of a milk tank, cheese and a Land Rover and the shooting of a cow, he had been confronted by "three thugs in my yard", but managed to frighten them away.

"It's total anarchy," he said, "there's complete meltdown in the countryside.

"These bandits hold us all in contempt."

Facing the criticisms were Wiltshire's deputy Chief Constable Stephen Long, chairman of the Police Authority, Chris Hoare, and Clive Barker, head of finance and procurement for Wiltshire Police.

Mr Hoare said the police authority had a statutory duty to consult with the business community.

While it had no control over business rates - they are set by central government - it recognised businesspeople also paid Council Tax, of which the police authority precept forms a part.

Mr Long compared the demands on the force in 1978 with those of today: the number of 999 calls had risen from 15,000 to 100,000 (plus 400,000 non-emergency calls), crimes from 20,000 to 45,000 and incidents from 21,000 to 140,000.

The number of police officers had risen from 1,000 to 1,200.

The force had to ensure these officers responded quickly and professionally, and the public could contact them, he said.

He conceded the 0845 service had had problems, but "significant improvements" had been made.

One central number which was always answered was preferable to a different number for each station which would not be answered if officers were out on patrol, he said.

The closure of enquiry offices had been "the most painful decision" made during his eight years in Wiltshire, but to ensure access to the police, 90 neighbourhood policing teams had been established across the county.

He admitted detection rates had fallen, but arrests had increased.

"Yes, we have not got enough resources to have a police officer on every street," he said, "but to give us enough officers we would need a 50 per cent increase in the precept, rather than the 4.5 per cent increase we are proposing. We have to make the best use of what we have got."

  • Mr Barker said the proposed budget for 2008/09 was £101.7m (2007/08 £98.2m), a 4.5 per cent increase.

Firms to keep record of crimes
THE Federation of Small Businesses, which has a branch in Salisbury, has joined up with the Coalition Against Crime and launched a campaign to increase the reporting of crime against businesses.

Firms are encouraged to keep a record of every crime they are a victim of, no matter how small, and to report it to the police.

The Every Crime Every Time Campaign aims to highlight the extent of crime against small businesses.

A fifth of all crime in the UK is committed against businesses, but only one in eight incidents is reported, often because business owners feel crime committed against them is low on the list of police priorities.

The campaign wants to see police forces' record on tackling crime against business to be included in the assessment of their performance and raise awareness of the damage crime against business does to communities.

David Croucher-Jones, FSB home affairs chairman, said: "The Every Crime Every Time Campaign is an effort to make the voices of small business owners heard about the crime they are victims of and to get police forces and the government to listen.

"Crime against business is often thought to be victimless - it's not: the victims are the communities small businesses sustain and small business owners themselves are facing a climate of constant intimidation and violence."

Anne Tate, chief executive of the Coalition Against Crime, said: "Crime impacts on a business by creating an inability to meet customer deadlines, damaging profitability, wasting management time and hitting staff morale.

"By reporting each incident of crime, anti-social behaviour or verbal and physical abuse against staff, small business owners can help us to put more pressure on police forces to take crime against business seriously."