Bohemia Village Voice

Street bobby Andy Hubbard.

Meet Andy Hubbard, the recently appointed ‘street bobby’ for Gensing. Andy is just one of some fifteen new street bobbies (or police community support officers to give them their official title) who can now be seen around the neighbourhoods of Hastings and St Leonards, Andy’s brief is to spend 90 per cent of his time walking the streets, meeting traders and members of the public ‘to build up community relations, to bring the community together to resolve minor issues, and to nip any problems in the bud without them blowing up and leading to arrests’, as he puts it.
 The bobbies are a recent initiative set up to offer an increased policing presence on the streets. In some ways they mark a return of the traditional ‘bobby on the beat’, and in most respects their powers are similar to those of a police constable. They are able to arrest people under common law, and they can also conduct house-to-house enquiries as  back-up to the regular police. For instance, at a recent incident on Bohemia Road Andy was the third officer at the scene. He was assigned to search the premises and afterwards conducted house-to-house enquiries. However, street bobbies are not able to investigate crime, so they cannot conduct interviews like a regular constable, for example.
Andy’s other duties include speaking to landlords and checking their ‘refusals books’ for details of individuals barred from pubs in the area.
  Andy, who is 34 years old, was born in Bethnal Green in London but now lives in Ore. Prior to becoming a street bobby he was a section manager at the Tesco store in Hollington. Having decided on this change of career, he undertook the four-month training course required to become a street bobby.
  Another Hastings ‘street bobby’, James Mackintosh, says, ‘As far as I’m concerned, PCSOs are what the old British ‘bobby’ used to be. We’re on the street, willing to talk and listen – but also willing to get our hands dirty to make the town a better place to live.’
  How to contact Andy direct: call 0845 60 70 999 and dial extension 21185. This takes you straight through to Andy. If he’s busy, he’ll ring you back as soon as he can. The 0845 60 70 999 number can also be used to contact the police for any non -urgent matter.                       [JLH]