The partners:
East of England Ambulance ServiceEssex County CouncilEssex County Fire & Rescue SeviceEssex PoliceHighways AgencySouthend-on-Sea Borough CouncilThurrock Council

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Community Speed Watch

As you may all recall in March 2010 at a meeting held in Braintree, Essex Police laid out its future plans for the Community Speedwatch Programme. At the meeting a number of points were made all of which were designed to address many of the concerns expressed; by the strong and enthusiastic network of volunteers who attended.

This update therefore aims to bring you up to date with the current position since the meeting in March. 

Below highlights the key elements.
 
  • Fulltime CSW Administrator
  • Community Speedwatch on the Essex Casualties Reduction Partnerships (ECRP) web site www.drivingcasualtiesdown.org
  • All Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT) and allocated local trainers.
  • Full Volunteer contact database
  • Working With Other Interested Groups
  • Centralised Database. 
  • Insurance Cover
  • Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU)
 
 
Fulltime CSW Administrator now in post (CSWA)
 
Existing and potential members will know the commitment and enthusiasm that Georgie Davis has shown in the CSW administrator’s role over the last 2 years. Up to this point this role has been in addition to other responsibilities. Now a full time post, her knowledge and understanding of the scheme will be vital in driving forward the changes. Georgie will also provide the focal point for monitored data, and other centralised administration activities.     
 
 
Community Speedwatch on the Essex Casualties Reduction Partnership (ECRP) web site
 
Agreement has been reached to include a Community Speedwatch tab on the ECRP web site, ‘www.drivingcasualtiesdown.org’ which initially will be used to provide general information about the CSW programme. In the future however, it is envisaged that the CSW tab will include with policing and other partner activity providing a broader range of information for each district. Note: No information relating to any volunteers or non police personnel will be released on any public sites concerning CSW.

All Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT) have now allocated local trainers

Every CSW group has been allocated a dedicated point of contact from their neighbourhood policing team. In July they will be attending a series of Train- the-Trainer sessions, enabling them to carry out training of all CSW groups. Whilst priority will be given to new groups, it is also anticipated that existing groups and their new members will also be given initial or refresher training.

The names of all police points of contact for each district will be posted on the ‘www.drivingcasualtiesdown.org’ web site under the ‘enforcement’ tab.

Full Volunteer contact database nearing completion

It is proposed to maintain an internal database listing of all volunteers, contact details and training records. This will be available to all police neighbourhood teams to encourage closer working relationships with all volunteers.

Working With Other Interested Groups

Whilst it is intended for the CSW activity to be displayed on the web site, it is important for information to be more widely shared. This will be achieved by linking in to appropriate forums such as local Neighbourhood Action Panel (NAPs) meetings, Parish Councils and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs).    

Centralised Database to provide improved reporting functions due to be installed at the end of June.

This is an additional software package that will be added to the enforcement programme currently used by the Safer Roads Bureau on behalf of the partnership, and will give not only better reporting functionality but also provide greater informational support on those vehicles monitored by groups. It is hoped that this will be available during August 2010.

This system will provide specific detail on location and activity. In order to benefit from the information site specific data is required, e.g road category, location and vehicle direction etc. and will define where monitoring can be carried out.

Insurance Cover

From an operational perspective it is confirmed that the Essex Police Insurance for any volunteer only covers those up to the age of 75yrs. However this does not prevent persons over that age from participating in the scheme. This may include tasks such as the representative on the NAP or completing and sending activity log sheets etc.   

Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU)

Currently this is still in a draft format while it does not stop current activities it is seen as crucial to the future operation of the scheme. This is likely to include proposals for future funding of the scheme particularly given the current public sector financial pressures.