Crime scene

Councils are maintaining frontline services in the battle against crime and antisocial behaviour, even though their own budgets are under pressure, writes Cllr Les Lawrence.

Crime is rising as the recession bites – but local authorities are doing all they can to maintain community safety programmes in a tough financial climate, an LGA survey suggests.

Burglary is on the rise in half of the areas surveyed in England and Wales – results mirroring those in government crime figures.

One in three areas has also seen an increase in vehicle crime (pictured) and domestic violence, with antisocial behaviour and alcohol misuse also going up.

The recession is to blame for these increases, according to more than threequarters of those responding to our survey, which was carried out ahead of the LGA’s safer communities conference in Bristol later this month.

Reassuring residents

The figures suggest that years of falling crime figures may be coming to an end. For more than a decade the number of recorded thefts from homes has been on the way down, partly because the plunging value of household goods such as DVD players and stereos has made burglary less lucrative.

But the financial pressure on councils and their partners in local crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) has not as yet had a significant impact on community safety programmes, such as street wardens or youth projects.

Two-thirds of those surveyed say that despite the economic slowdown, their community safety programmes are still in place.

This should offer some reassurance to local people, as we know that crime continues to be a top public concern. In a recent MORI poll, one in three said crime is the most important issue facing the country today, second only to the economy.

Working together in local areas, CDRPs bring together the police, councils and other agencies to tackle crime and community safety – so they are best placed to know what’s happening locally.

And the top priority right now for local areas in the LGA survey is tackling antisocial behaviour. When asked to identify the three most important community safety issues, antisocial behaviour was named by four out of five areas.

Fear of crime, and alcohol and drug misuse, were each identified as one of the top three issues by just under half of local areas – followed by domestic violence, which 40% of areas put in their top three priorities.

Respondents were asked if they had received any support from regional improvement and efficiency partnerships or the Improvement and Development Agency in the last year. Few had, but those who had were generally positive about the support.

Councils work closely with the police and a number of other partners to reduce crime in local areas – and nearly half say that the relationship with the police has improved greatly in the last three years.

Councils also report good relationships with probation services, with nearly two-thirds reporting they are very or fairly good. Nearly half are also positive about their authority’s relationship with the health service in reducing crime.

Councillor involvement

Nearly four out of five councils have arrangements in place to undertake joint tasks with the police and over 60% say they have joint funding arrangements, for example for police community support officers.

Neighbourhood policing teams have  been in place for more than a year in three out of four areas responding to the survey, but councillors were less likely than council officers to be very involved in the meetings that safer neighbourhood teams hold with the public.

More involvement of councillors in these meetings with the public would strengthen partnerships on the ground, and the LGA will be lobbying for this to become accepted practice.

The survey’s findings reinforce the need for councils and the police to be given the space to combat crime and for top-down, timeconsuming initiatives from central government to be halted.

• Cllr Les Lawrence is chairman of the LGA safer communities board
• A link to the LGA’s online survey was sent to the local authority contact for 366 CDRPs in England and Wales in May. By the end of July, 171 local authorities had responded, from all regions and all types of authority, giving a response rate of 47%.

Deborah Houston-MacBean, head of community safety at Havering council, east London, outlines the Beacon authority’s crime-reduction work

In January, Havering council and other members of the Havering community safety partnership identified the potential risk of a rise in property crime resulting from the recession.

A dedicated action group was established and a multi-agency programme of work put into place. This focused on commercial robbery, residential burglary and motor vehicle crime.

‘Safe and sound’, coordinated by the council working in partnership with the police and local businesses, provides the main focus for work on commercial robbery. Part of the initiative is the introduction of the national business information system across the borough, which shares data about known shoplifters, thieves and drunken louts.

Participating shops, pubs and clubs receive regular reports about the 10 worst offenders, including photographs, descriptions and offending history. When incidents occur within business premises, it is expected that they will pass on any photos and other details of the offender to the council. This information is then uploaded into the database to make other participants aware.

The borough has seen a marked rise in residential burglary. An in-depth review of the problem by the partnership’s analyst identified two key areas for action: residents’ failing to secure UPVC doors adequately, and the theft of car keys to enable high value cars to be stolen.

The police increased their patrols at emerging hotspot areas and targeted action against known offenders, while the partnership began an awareness campaign
alerting residents to basic security methods. The campaign included the production of flyers, posters, radio and cinema advertising, and advertising in the local press.

The ‘lift, lock, remove’ campaign is also taken door-to-door by local safer neighbourhoods teams. In addition, council staff conduct monthly roadshows (pictured above) distributing crime prevention advice and property marking kits.

We are beginning to see a downward trend in residential burglary with an increased number of failed attempts.

Similarly, when it comes to motor vehicle crime, the borough has proactively targeted known offenders and distributed vehicle safety packs to the public. Again, we have seen a marked reduction in this kind of crime, down nearly 39% this financial year – the best figures in London.

Our work on acquisitive crime is particularly testing. We are one of the largest boroughs in London and the geography of the place – with incidents often dispersed over a large area – presents problems in itself.

However, our crime prevention ‘mix’ of direct target hardening, policing and mobilising the community to take action and secure their property, alongside our own staff being the ‘eyes and ears’ of the community, has resulted in reductions.