Selaine Saxby, MP for North Devon, has released the data from her crime survey that was sent to residents, mostly along North Devon’s coastal communities. 500 people responded to the survey and highlighted that crime and safety is a key issue for the community in North Devon.
From the survey, it was clear that residents’ primary concerns for the police was centred around tackling anti social behaviour, drug related crime and thefts and burglaries. Over half of all respondents listed these concerns as the most important. Following on from this, residents also highlighted how they would like to see increased police presence on the streets on foot patrols.
According to the data, the vast majority of respondents said they feel safe on our streets, with over half of respondents giving a street safety score of 7/10 or above, with very few saying they had recently witnessed or experience a crime. However, it was raised that over 90% of those respondents felt the crime they experienced had not been dealt with well.
For the street marshal scheme, results show there was overwhelming support for this, with only 5% of respondents opposing it and 70% of residents wanting this to be expanded with more officers on the street. This was supported by the 64% of respondents wanting to see anti social behaviour fully tackled. There was huge support for seeing additional officers on the street and increasing CCTV coverage.
It should be noted that in North Devon 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.
Local MP, Selaine Saxby said:
“It was interesting and informative to read the data that came through from my crime survey. I am pleased over 500 local residents took the time to respond, sharing their views and personal experiences.
“It is important for me to understand the key concerns of North Devon residents regarding your safety and crime concerns in our local community as I can feed this back to local government and in Westminster. Regarding the street marshal scheme, it is encouraging to read the positive support for the scheme, with many wanting this to be expanded to keep our streets even safer, an area that I have been campaigning hard to ensure that the scheme continues in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe.
I would like to thank everybody who responded to the crime survey and to the street marshals and police for all you do in keeping our towns safe."
