Years of successful partnership working between Dorchester & Sherborne Police and Magna Housing Association have been captured on film.
The seven-minute video has been produced by Dorset Police to show the successful partnership working between the two organisations.
By working together in the past few years, they have been able to jointly act on problems such as drug abuse, noisy neighbours, dog fouling and anti-social behaviour at the 5,000 properties managed by Magna in the region.
Officers from both organisations regularly take part in joint patrols, and often turn up to residential incidents together, demonstrating a united front to stop consistent anti-social behaviour incidents.
Magna Housing Association’s Director, David Aldwinkle said: “We are extremely pleased that our partnership with Dorset Police has developed so well. For the benefit of our residents, it is important that we are able to act against anti-social behaviour and this working relationship helps us to do this effectively.”
In August, £7,500 was donated by the housing association’s community initiative fund to finance two new community vans for Police Community Support Officers to use to reach rural communities.
Inspector Les Fry, Section Commander for Dorchester and Sherborne, said: “Working with Magna has made a big difference to our communities. It was only natural to showcase this excellent partnership in a video.
“The reason why this partnership works so well is because we can deal with the criminal side of things whereas Magna can deal with the civil side of things, which may result in an offender losing their house.
“We hope that our relationship with Magna will inspire other partners and agencies in the area to be just as forthcoming and open about developing partnerships, therefore improving the quality of life of where we live.
“The successful partnership with Magna is proof that Dorset can become an even safer place to live, if we work together.”
Ruth Ashdown, Housing manager for Magna, said: “Previously ourselves and the local police were often dealing with the same people but in separate ways. With this partnership, our approach is much more cohesive and we have seen improvements in our dealings with anti-social issues.”
Great idea, but wouldn’t it have been better for the Police to liased with some of the local cider makers instead of the Irish giant Magners.