Welcome to the North Dorset area, which now incorporates
the North Dorset District Council boundaries. 
Following the recent restructure of the Force,
Sturminster Newton returns to the section having previously been
part of the Shaftesbury area back in the 1980s. The North Dorset
area covers 268 square miles and the four main towns of
Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Blandford and Sturminster Newton.
Despite the continued and rapid expansion of
the four main towns, with Gillingham alone doubling in size and set
for further expansion, crime rates remain low and detection rates
high.
We are fortunate to live in an area where the
majority of the population, people of all ages, are law-abiding
citizens and are willing to come forward with information so that
we can support them in maintaining the area as one of the safest
places to live in England. However, fear of crime remains much
higher than the reality.
Further changes have taken place, providing
more contact with the local community in order to look more closely
at issues that residents decide are of concern to them.
One Section Commander (myself) covers the
area, supported by station sergeants in place for each of the four
towns and Safer Neighbourhood Teams. The teams include PCs
community support officers (PCSOs), special constables and
volunteers. This allows more direct contact with local residents
looking at issues that they consider important within their
communities. It also allows us to work directly with partner
agencies such as district and town councils, the health service and
housing associations to find solutions more quickly and
efficiently.
In addition to the Safer Neighbourhood Teams,
patrol officers are also based at all four main stations to provide
further support and response to live incidents within the area.
The North Dorset area also hosts many
important events including the county’s biggest event - the Great
Dorset Steam Fair. Many other popular events take place through out
the year including Shaftesbury Gold Hill Fair, Gillingham Music
Festival, Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival, the Shaftesbury and
Gillingham show and carnivals and music festivals at the Larmer
Tree.
The Safer Neighbourhood Teams would like to
hear from, you, members of the public about any issues you would
like to discuss.
To make contact more flexible, each team has a
mobile telephone. The numbers are available from the North Dorset
Safer Neighbourhood Team pages on this website, just use the links
on the right hand side of this page. Please contact us so that we
(the police), and our partner agencies can work together to make
North Dorset an even safer place to live.
Inspector 1919 Shawn
Whitley
Section
Commander