It is always fascinating to go out on patrol with the local police and last week was no exception when I toured Shoreham on foot with PCSO Laura, who certainly knows her area well. Shoplifting and anti-social behaviour were unsurprisingly the main themes of the evening and we managed to walk into one shop just as someone was trying to walk out having carelessly forgotten to pay for his cans of beer and red bull! Elsewhere we came across someone who appeared to be smoking prohibited substances a bit too close to the police station as well.
Please access the following link to https://fb.watch/nINo1eYLUw/ to see Laura's journey into the PSCO role.
Kevin Boram and I are following up on the recent roundtable meeting we had recently with local retailers, police and councillors about the spate of shoplifting in the town centres. As we know the problem has been focused on the COOP branches where security guards are not acting as a deterrent and where use of body worn cameras by staff is also patchy.
On Thursday I attended a very happy evening at Worthing Museum for the launch of the "Ukrainian Renaissance. Art. Craft. History" exhibition. There are some amazing works of art on display by Ukrainian refugees from Worthing and around and we were also treated to some stirring singing from the Ukrainian choir and some delicious Ukrainian food. It is great to see our Ukrainian guests so well integrated into the local community and wanting to play their part. The exhibition is on until February and well worth a visit. They are also planning a special Ukrainian cultural day later on in November.
Less uplifting was my visit to the West Sussex Education Department drop-in for Shoreham parents supposedly to be updated on the progress with resolving the secondary school place shortage in Adur and avoiding another shambles for next year’s cohort being shipped off to Worthing to schools they had not chosen. It would seem there has in fact been little progress since the heated June public meeting and so I have now taken this up with the Education Minister to intervene.
