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Walland and Dengemarsh Surgery and 'Policing the Marsh' information. |
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Hello all
The next Walland and Dengemarsh (W&D) Surgery is at Lydd Police Station on 14th February 2026 10:00-11:00. I've always held it at Lydd Police Station because it's easy to get to for most, has parking and is on a bus route. Everyone is welcome even if you're not a resident of that particular ward but it is on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and because we also hold surgeries for the New Romney and Romney Marsh wards I'd have to give priority to W&D ward residents to make it fair. Even though it's an hours surgery it doesn't matter too much if it runs over time and if it's a more private matter that you don't want to talk about in front of anyone else who attends then we can arrange another time but whatever the case is, you'll have the chance to tell me what issues are affecting you. There is limited space in the old front counter of the police station, I can probably have about 10 people at any one time so if I get inundated with coach loads of people we'll have to rotate but as I've never reached double figures before, it should be okay although it would be lovely to see you all!
On a separate note, as many of you know me and my colleague PC James Hockless are your Romney Marsh Beat Officers who are based at Lydd Police Station and we fall under the umbrella of the Community Safety Unit (CSU) based at Folkestone Police Station. In CSU there are other Beat Officers who work in the rest of the Folkestone and Hythe District, there is also the Neighbourhood Taskforce (NTF) and the Child Centered Policing Team (CCPT) who work closely with the schools in the district and we all work in conjunction with each other, one big happy family as the saying goes! Sometimes when I speak to people about what James and I do, the reaction is "only two police officers for the whole of The Marsh?!" well, it's not quite the case. If you are unfortunate enough to have to ring 999 needing the police, it is normally our Response colleagues from the Local Policing Teams (LPT) who are based at Folkestone Police Station that will come to you however, it doesn't always mean that they travel from Folkestone because quite often they are on The Marsh for various reasons so they're never normally too far away. Therefore James and I are two officers dedicated to the Romney Marsh in addition to the LPT officers who respond to the emergencies and other non-emergency calls. Sometimes you'll see James and I with our blues and twos going because we're assisting our Response colleagues on the Marsh and sometimes up towards Folkestone but generally we are down here. Predominantly for James and myself our role is to serve the Romney Marsh in a Neighbourhood Policing capacity which has a wide range of subjects like anti-social behaviour (ASB), drug dealing, road traffic matters to name but a few, this is focussing on matters that affect all of our daily lives. We don't always get it right and don't always solve all of the issues and problems but we work very hard in trying to do so and being proactive and reactive in detecting and dealing with those who commit crime and ASB on the Marsh. I remember seeing some comments on Facebook a while ago about how much better the police were in the ‘good old days’ with the local bobby (this was Lydd) who used to ride his bicycle and smoke a pipe and how he used to chat to everyone etc etc. I don't doubt that this officer was brilliant at what he did and in fact I'm in contact with some of the retired Lydd officers of yesteryear and they've told me a story or two but the reality of policing today is very different in this fast paced world of ours and so if you don't see me or James patrolling from one week to the next, it's not necessarily that we haven't been it's just that we're here, there and everywhere with modern day demands. I'm not complaining, far from it as I love my role and in fact I feel privileged to be a Romney Marsh Beat Officer. This is just a snapshot of what we do which I thought I'd share with you and if you have any questions about our roles and it's something I can disclose, then I will!
As always you can contact us both, email is preferable, if you have any information about drug dealing or any other activity that blights our streets because we will act on that information. Crimes in progress=999 Non-emergency crimes that need to be reported or ASB incidents=Kent Police website online reporting tool or as a last resort ring 101.
My email is For non emergency information/intelligence sharing.
James's email is For non emergency information/intelligence sharing.
Thank you Steve.
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