CRIME levels are ‘very, very minimal’ in Holsworthy the Torridge Sector Inspector told councillors at a recent town council meeting — but some councillors raised concerns over police response times in the area.

Torridge Sector Inspector Phil Gray attended the council’s full meeting on Wednesday, September 7, where he was welcomed by the mayor, Jon Hutchings, to give a police report and presentation.

Insp Gray began his presentation with a brief overview of how he became Sector Inspector for Torridge, and said: “I became Torridge Inspector in October/November time last year and replaced Andy Brock, who left to do other project work.

“To begin with I was standing in temporarily but became full time in February. I have spent about 19 years in the police force and it was around 14 and a half/15 years ago that I was transferred from the Bedfordshire area to Devon.

“The majority of my time with Devon and Cornwall has been within CID and CID has been my passion.”

Following his introduction the opportunity was given to the councillors present to speak to Insp Gray about their concerns with regards to crime in Holsworthy and the amount of cover they are currently receiving.

Questions had been passed over to Insp Gray prior to the meeting for further investigation so he was able to give the most coherent answers possible with regards to the concerns raised.

Cllr Colin Punter asked: “Why does Holsworthy have such a delay in responding to 999 calls?’”

Insp Gray said: “I haven’t received reports of calls not being answered quickly in Holsworthy.

“The police are no different to the Ambulance or Fire and there will be times when, due to demand, we don’t always meet response times to certain incidents, however this is minimal.”

Insp Gray explained that Holsworthy comes under the ‘North and West Devon’ areas. They therefore have to follow a model for policing in that area, he said: “A demand model has been created for North and West Devon which dictates a minimal threshold of officers on duty in specific areas.

“It is then up to our Sergeants to move staff around according to: threat, risk, harm and vulnerability.”

Cllr Hutchings said that there has been a noticeable reduction in police presence on the streets of Holsworthy in recent years. He used the recent St Peter’s Fair event as an example of how a lack of police was noticed by the public and that this may cause ‘unease amongst residents’.

Cllr Punter queried whether this was one of the reasons behind the delays in response times.

Insp Gray said that ‘Holsworthy’s level of crime is very, very minimal’ but he added: “I do understand the concern. Events such as the fair, whilst attracting lots of people, do not necessarily meet the threshold of risk for me to deploy my officers to. Each event is normally risk assessed and if this risk is low, then the event won’t be policed.

“However, our statistics have shown that you don’t have a high crime threat level in Holsworthy.

“I can assure you all though that if there was, or is, a threat in Holsworthy I would be putting my resources towards it.”

On behalf of the council the town clerk, Vanessa Saunders, put forward a question to Insp Gray: “Why are there still vacancies for police officers in Holsworthy?”

Insp Gray explained that there are systems in place to protect the jobs of police officers, however, it is likely that the current vacancy may not be filled.”

He added that Holsworthy has a great network of trained PCSOs and that he would, on most occasions, expect them to be backed up within 30 minutes.

Concerns were raised over whether 30 minutes was an acceptable time period for a police presence to reach PCSOs in a backup situation. Insp Gray clarified that this would be a ‘maximum time frame’ and if an officer requires assistance the nearest officer will be dispatched, whether that was traffic, or armed response officers, CID or response.

He added: “The control room knows exactly where all officers are and will dispatch them accordingly.”

Insp Gray reassured councillors that response time can vary and that it isn’t always the case that the public or PCSOs have to wait that long for a police officer to get to a scene — he said there are many, unavoidable circumstances that have to be factored in.

Insp Gray added: “Devon and Cornwall is the second safest place in the country. We have to put it in to context, I do understand the concern but it isn’t always going to be a 30 minute wait for police backup.”

Conservative Devon County Councillor Barry Parsons, cabinet member for performance and engagement, made the final comment, he said: “We are in an age of austerity being felt as much as the police force.

“I do know that I could not be more positive about the effort being put in by individual members of our police team, it is now just down to numbers.”