Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO, who manage council housing in Belle Isle) reported in a Facebook post:
BITMO staff met West Yorkshire Police on Tuesady morning and discussed that in the last six weeks in Belle Isle there have been:
* Nine burglaries, two of which involved people stealing from people they know.
* Three drug offences are being investigated – one includes money laundering.
There has been a 400% increase in quad and bike reports. As the weather improves, the police expect to see more of this type of activity and they have increased the police resource available to deal with it.
There are now the Off-Road Officers, one attached to each shift. New equipment has been bought such as stingers and stop sticks. They will be focusing on our area but may get called to other areas across Leeds if needed.
Councillor Pogson-Godson and Councillor Chesterfield were pushing the message that people need to be reporting to the police if they see any anti-social behaviour. Sergeant Ryder backed this up.
The very important message remains – report what you see to the police. When we were in Winrose Crescent last week we spoke to lots of people who are witnessing drug use and dealing every day. While it is important that you tell BITMO about it, it is even more important that you report it to the police as well.
Seperately the Neighbourhood Policing Team posted the following update on their Facebook page:
Leeds South NPT T3 Middleton & Belle– Roads Policing & Off-Road Enforcement Update
We’ve had another active week targeting dangerous driving and anti-social vehicle use in our communities. Here’s the latest:
2 x Vehicles seen driving dangerously and failing to stop for police. Both were later recovered using police powers. Enquiries are ongoing.
A 16-year-old Surron rider was identified after being seen on foot on Belle Isle Road. He was stopped and taken home to his parents, then reported for:
- Driving Otherwise Than in Accordance With a Licence
- No Insurance
- Driving Without Due Care and Attention
- Failing to Stop for Police
He will be attending court and was given a clear warning to stop this reckless ‘hobby’.
1 x Driver reported for a Non-Conforming VRM Plate.
Huge thanks to our Off-Road Bike Team who assisted with stopping a father riding an illegal and unsafe off-road bike—with his 7-year-old son as a passenger. This same individual later made threats to “torture police” the next time he’s out on his Surron. We are taking this behaviour seriously and further action will follow.
We remain focused on keeping our roads safe for everyone in our community.
Road Safety Fact: Children are three times more likely to be killed or seriously injured as pedestrians in deprived areas, often due to higher traffic volumes and dangerous driving behaviours like those we’ve seen this week. Keeping roads safe for children is a shared responsibility.
Source: RoSPA – Child Accident Prevention.
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