POLICE MEETINGS AXED

A scene we shall not see again - a public policing panel meeting in the Angel Suite. Left to right: Pete Scott, head of safer roads, North Lincolnshire Council; chairman Coun Tom Glossop, Brigg Town Council; Insp Brett Rutty; Group Captain Paul Ryan, administrator.


Next week we were due to have the Brigg area's quarterly public panel meeting in the Angel Suite, but it won't be happening - because Humberside Police have decided to pull the plug on such gatherings.
They did say this might happen, believing such meetings to be poorly attended, relatively expensive (presumably in staff time and room hire) and that there are other ways in which the public can get hold of information about policing and crime prevention in this digital age.
Brigg Blog has long been a supporter of these quarterly public meetings and we think it's a bad move. We'll all miss the interesting and detailed reports given by Insp Brett Rutty, with up-to-date crime statistics. Plus the input on road safety issues from Pete Scott, head of safer roads at North Lincolnshire Council.
The public forum also produced interesting views from non-councillors on a range of topics - some very localised (such as parking problems in a particular street) but others of wider interest.
Brigg's Coun Tom Glossop chaired these policing panel meetings and he's also disappointed to see them discontinued. This policy decision was taken at a high level, we understand.
It seems another case where "use it or lose it" has applied in Brigg - and we've ended up on the losing side. A dozen, or even a couple of dozen, people attending the panel meetings was deemed insufficient by the powers-that-be. In purely numerical terms, their decision seems justified, but you have to have attended to appreciate the useful two-way dialogue between the authorities and the public.
The trouble was, of course, too few people ventured out and did so.

Perhaps, like us, you are now wondering where such information on policing statistics and crime trends in Brigg and district is going to be made available to us, and when. Will the quarterly report and facts and figures still be compiled? Will it be published somewhere online? Can those who want it have it emailed to them?
Would they like to send the report to Brigg Blog, as we'll be delighted to publish every word, as we always have, when it was delivered, in person, by Insp Rutty at the quarterly meetings in the Angel Suite.