'DON'T be afraid to call 999' — that was the message this week from West Devon's police inspector PC Ian Milligan. The new police chief for the area was answering concerns from Okehampton Town Council about the visibility of police in the area. In an incident outside the town's Somerfield supermarket this week, four men intimidated passers-by with drunk and disorderly behaviour — Okehampton councillors expressed concern that there had been no police at the scene. Cllr Christine Marsh said: 'The men were extremely drunk. They stole flowers and apples from outside the supermarket and urinated in public. 'I was there with my grandchildren. They weren't threatening to me, but they would have been frightening to older people. And that's not the sort of example you want children to see.' Cllr David Weeks also expressed concern about regular disorderly behaviour in the town on Saturday nights, which often seems to be unchecked by the police. 'I'm a taxi driver, so I see quite a lot,' he said. Other members of the council also argued that the police often seem a remote presence in the town, and cited examples of unanswered calls that residents have tried to make to the police station. The inspector told the council that in cases of disorderly behaviour such as the Somerfield incident, residents should not hesitate to call 999. He said: 'Ninety per cent of 999 calls are answered within ten seconds. 'It's no good calling your local police station for matters like public disorder. Our system doesn't work like that.' Insp Milligan also promised that anti-social behaviour would be one of the issues police would be focusing on in the town under the new neighbourhood policing plan. Other problems that will receive particular attention include anti-social motoring and criminal damage. The inspector reported that over the last business year, crime in Okehampton fell by almost 2%, with just 468 crimes in the town between April 2006 and April 2007, as opposed to 480 the year before. But he admitted that in the previous year crime in Okehampton had fallen by a greater figure, almost 9%. Insp Milligan partly attributed this slowdown in the police success rate to the recent spate of vehicle crime, particularly the theft of satellite navigation systems in the area — more than five have been stolen in the last few weeks. 'It's unusual for Okehampton, but every rural area has its problems,' he said. The inspector said that a number of measures are being taken to combat the problem: 'We're introducing special patrols at night as well as decoy vehicles.' He also stressed that one of the most effective means of overcoming the current problem must be communication from the Okehampton public. 'If anyone has any information about the thefts, or if anyone has been offered a sat nav for sale, I'd welcome them coming forward,' he said. 'I am keen to develop more intelligence contacts.' That communication process will be facilitated under the new neighbourhood policing scheme, which gives Okehampton regular police liaison meetings and its own neighbourhood team leader, PC Matt Longman, in a post which until this year was shared with Tavistock.
