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New role aims to put a stop to arson |
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A new role – the first of its kind in the country – has been created as part of a drive to put a stop to arson in Warwickshire. Warwickshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Services Station Manager, Ian Tonner, has been appointed as the new Arson Reduction Manager (ARM) and will now be working out of the Justice Centre in Nuneaton. He will be working in partnership with Warwickshire Police in a bid to tackle one the country’s fastest growing trends. Speaking of the appointment, Ian said: “My role as the Arson Reduction Manager is to establish links with our partners and work closely with the police to reduce fire setting and arson across the county of Warwickshire. My appointment and positioning at the Justice Centre is the first of its kind in the country and I have been tasked with establishing a County Arson Task Force, which will oversee all aspects of Arson within Warwickshire. Each district has their own Arson Forum with local issues. These will now feed into the overall task force where trends and good practice can be shared.
“Over the past three years I have worked in Stratford, Warwick and Nuneaton district Area Risk Teams. Each area had its own local issues, but they all shared one common problem – small nuisance fires, which links to the increase in nuisance behaviour that the police have also been experiencing. “The Arson Task Force will enable a more focused approach to fire-setting, arson and nuisance behaviour. This, along with better links to funding across our partner groups and local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, we hope, will help us to see a marked improvement in these areas.” Inspector Faz Chishty of Warwickshire Police’s Community Safety Department said: “Ian’s role as the Arson Reduction Manager is an example of partnership working which helps us achieve the objective of protecting communities together. Police officers will be working side by side with Ian and other partner agencies to help reduce arson in Warwickshire.”
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