Working in partnership to make Taunton streets safer
On Tuesday 25 February, Avon and Somerset Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner met key representatives from Taunton Chamber of Commerce, Taunton Town Council, Somerset Council and local businesses to discuss and problem-solve the biggest community issues affecting the town.
The meeting, which took place at Mr Miles Tearooms in Taunton town centre, was an opportunity to highlight the proactive policing work taking place to drive down anti-social behaviour, retail crime and violence. It also provided a platform for open dialogue around community safety, improving crime rates and outcomes, and how all attending agencies can work in partnership to achieve this.
The mood of the evening was optimistic as attendees shared their commitment to tackling crime in Taunton through closer partnership working.
Police and Crime Commissioner, Clare Moody, and Police Commander for Somerset, Superintendent Lisa Simpson, gave a regional update, focusing on their priority to strengthen neighbourhood policing and rebuild the public’s trust and confidence through highly visible police patrols, meaningful community engagement and tackling anti-social behaviour and its detrimental impact.
The Taunton Neighbourhood Policing Team echoed this sentiment by presenting their recent success in targeting the town’s top offenders. Between November 2024 and January 2025, officers delivered a proactive operation that saw increased town centre patrols, culminating in the arrests of these offenders (see previous report here).
During the evening, Lily Crowther-Luke, Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Co-ordinator for Somerset West, shared what the police are doing to manage offenders causing harassment, alarm and distress in the local community. She answered questions from the audience on ASB tools and powers, and how her dedicated ASB Team uses stepped interventions to deal with and deter children from engaging in further ASB and related crime.
PS Charmaine Dyne, from the Early Intervention Team, gave a presentation on targeted work tackling violence among children on East Street, Taunton. The problem-solving plan, involving close collaboration with multiple partner agencies such as local authorities, the Somerset Violence Reduction Partnership, Young Somerset and the local McDonald’s (where Youth Hubs are hosted on Saturday afternoons), has led to a 59 per cent reduction in violent crime on East Street.
Despite these positive outcomes, the team acknowledged that more needs to be done to address anti-social behaviour and business crime (e.g. shop theft, burglary and robbery) and are keen to support retailers to support the police in bringing perpetrators to justice.
Chief Inspector Rebecca Wells-Cole, Business Crime Lead, reinforced the importance of developing local relationships with businesses, sharing emerging risks and best practice when supplying CCTV, and empowering business owners and staff to protect their assets through crime prevention strategies. She also strongly encouraged reporting incidents via Avon and Somerset Police’s online crime reporting tool: Report | Avon and Somerset Police
Following the event, Supt Lisa Simpson said: “We welcomed the opportunity to share, with our key partners and local businesses, what our policing teams are doing to tackle crime levels and anti-social behaviour in Taunton.
“We were also able to explain what we need from the community to identify offenders and progress prosecutions – that is, through increased reporting and high-quality CCTV submissions.
“2024 was a challenging year for community policing as we navigated increasing demand, in both volume and complexity, with finite resources. However, we want to iterate to the communities and businesses in Taunton that we are committed to keeping everyone safe, and to allowing all residents and visitors to feel confident that they are safe.
“We’re listening to your concerns and know improving our police response to crime and anti-social behaviour in the town, and Somerset more widely, is critical to restoring your trust and confidence.
“By closely collaborating with the Chamber of Commerce, local authorities and other agencies, we’ll prioritise the biggest issues, steering people away from criminal behaviour through early intervention and prevention work, empowering businesses with crime prevention and reporting advice, and relentlessly pursuing those who seek to cause harm.”