Police are yet to say when neighbourhood alerts will resume

THAMES VALLEY: There is still no news from police as to when the Thames Valley neighbourhood alerts for Maidenhead and Windsor will begin again.

The service stopped after the role of Jeff Pick, community engagement and resilience officer for the area, was discontinued on September 16.

Mr Pick was known for his frequent neighbourhood alerts, which listed reported crimes in the Borough for the past few days.

Concerns were raised last month that these alerts would stop as a result of axing Mr Pick’s role.

The police said in response that the alerts would start again after ‘a brief period of transition’.

However, there have been no alerts since then.

On Tuesday (October 18) a spokesman for Thames Valley Police reiterated that the alerts ‘will continue for Windsor & Maidenhead.’

“The media team and community engagement team at TVP will publish alerts to the area when there are alerts to publish,” the spokesman for the force said in a statement.

“Also there is a new Local Policing Area administrator for Windsor and Maidenhead, who will also post alerts.”

Around 20 people have contacted Matthew Barber, the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, to express concerns over both Mr Pick’s removal and the neighbourhood alerts.

A spokesman for the PCC’s office said: “The PCC is prevented by law from interfering with operational policing and individual roles are a matter for the Force.

“This issue has been discussed with local commanders who have offered reassurance that the local alert messages, that are clearly so valuable to the community, will be continued by the newly restructured team.”