Monthly updates from the various North Dorset Police Teams. This month’s news from Shaftesbury’s PC Rob Hammond

Shaftesbury has a two-person team, so they’re working hard on their primary targets of drugs, illegal drivers and support for the vulnerable, says PC Rob Hammond

Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) have been working on their new Chief Constable’s vision & the Police Crime Commissioner’s priorities by working to keep local residents safe. There’s only two of us – so as you can imagine we work very hard!
Where possible we provide a visible presence in town, and it was great to see so many people at the Food Fayre a few weeks ago. Of course we cannot be everywhere, nor can we resolve everything that is reported, but we do advise people to always report matters, as this allows us to build a picture of where we should patrol & any agencies to work with.

Keeping people safe
Another important aspect of our role is to keep vulnerable people safe. This means visiting those in our community who may be vulnerable to exploitation or abuse or are repeat victims of crime. Talking with victims of crime and making sure they are treated well by visiting them is also a very important part of our service.
Where possible we also visit your local pubs or work with them via our licensing team to make sure everything is safe for your evening’s out in town.

Drugs and driving
The police team uses the information you give (or we learn) to disrupt any criminal activity, or stop it happening. According to our community surveys this means reducing the misuse of drugs in town as the community’s number one priority. Another concern high on your list is that of people driving illegally, and we often take cars that are not insured from persons who think they can get away with it (see photo above of a recent seizure in Shaftesbury). Clearly this second priority is not so easy for just the two of us (but bear in mind there are other police resources!) – so if you feel more NPT officers might make a difference in the town please feel free to ask our chief.

A local expert from Citizen’s Advice provides advice

Q: “I recently applied for a job which offered National Minimum Wage. I went for an interview and at the end the manager asked me for some documents and also asked how old I was. I told her I was 25 and she said she would be in touch, but it would be unlikely I’d get the job because they wouldn’t be able to afford to pay me the required wage. She said she would prefer to hire someone younger. Is this legal?

A: Nobody should be asking you how old you are in a job interview. At 25, you’re entitled to the National Living Wage. On the Citizens Advice website there are full details of the wages people are entitled to by law. but these rules shouldn’t mean employers avoid hiring people because of how old they are. That’s known as ‘direct age discrimination’ in the Equality Act 2010. You’re also protected by the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, which says employers can’t not hire you (and they can’t fire you) simply because your age means you’re entitled to a higher rate.
If you’ve been discriminated against, there are steps you can take. Make a note of what happened as soon as you can – noting down exactly what you were asked and any other remarks the interviewer made. This will be useful as evidence later. Next, you should write a letter of complaint to the employer. Keep a copy of this letter for your own records. There’s advice on the Citizens Advice website on what this letter should include and you can also speak to an adviser at your local Citizens Advice to get help writing it. If the letter doesn’t get an outcome you’re happy with, you could take the employer to an employment tribunal. You’ll need as much evidence of discrimination as possible. Evidence should include the job advert, the job description, your notes about what was said at the interview and any contact you’ve had with the employer since – like your complaint letter.

There’s a deadline
Remember that you only have three months minus one day from the date that the ‘discriminatory act’ (in this case, the comments in your interview) happened to start tribunal proceedings. You do this by contacting the government organisation Acas and telling them that you intend to bring a claim. Nobody should have to worry about being discriminated against when job hunting.

For more advice on your rights when searching for work, visit citizensadvice.org.uk/work
or call Citizens Advice on 0800 144 88 48.”