I have collected data from a survey sent to many residents, mostly along North Devon’s coastal communities. We received over 500 responses, which is a very good number for a survey and provides some interesting data.
Residents’ primary concerns for the police were to tackle antisocial behaviour, drug related crimes and thefts/burglaries, with over half of all respondents listing these as most important. This was closely followed by the public wanting to see more police foot patrols.
The vast majority of respondents feel safe on our streets, with over half of respondents giving street safety a score of 7/10 or above. Whilst very few respondents had recently witnessed or experienced a crime, over 90% of those respondents felt the crime had not been dealt with well which is a concern.
There was overwhelming support for the street marshal scheme, with only 5% of respondents opposed. Similarly, there was huge support for seeing additional officers on the street and increasing CCTV coverage. However, Neighbourhood Watch seems to have fallen out of favour, with only 39% supporting an expansion and 26% opposing any expansion of the scheme.
There is no doubt that this reflects the enthusiasm for the street marshals to improve how safe residents felt on our streets. 70% wanted to see more officers on the street, and 64% wanted to see antisocial behaviour tackled.
North Devon is not a high crime area, but the level of crime does not always reflect what people feel, despite the fact that overall crime has significantly fallen. I am pleased to have ensured North Devon received funding from the Safer Streets Scheme, having lobbied the then Home Secretary extensively to ensure we did, which saw the Street Marshal scheme come to fruition, as well as improvements in Barnstaple’s CCTV. I am delighted the Council have been able to continue and extend the Street Marshals.
Since 2010, overall crime (excluding fraud and computer misuse) has fallen by 54%. Neighbourhood crime, including thefts, robberies, and burglaries, is also down by 51%. In addition, data from the Office of National Statistics shows that violent crime has fallen by 41% as of the year ending June 2023.
In my recent North Devon View magazine, I quoted figures showing estimated crimes in England and Wales had fallen from 9,544 in the year ending March 2010 to 4,930 by the year ending June 2022. This would be very welcome, but it should say 9,544,000 and 4,930,000 estimated crimes.
With Op Loki currently back underway tackling antisocial behaviour on our streets, this data will be helpful to feed back into our police, and our Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez. Whilst we have seen an improvement, particularly in Barnstaple, with a reduction in antisocial behaviour, this is certainly not the perception of residents and there is more to be done beyond just our main high street to tackle this.
With Ilfracombe Police Station reopening in February, there are more ways for the community to contact the police. The front desks allow members of the public to have access to walk in services where they can speak to trained staff who can help with crime reporting and crime prevention advice.
It is vital that all crimes are reported to ensure their statistics are up to date and their resources deployed accordingly. You can report non emergency situations online: https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/reportcrime and 999 is always there in the case of a genuine emergency.
Thank you to the street marshals and police for all they do in keeping our town safe, and to all residents who completed the survey.
