Community Safety Strategy
2005 - 2008
Download Community Safety Strategy pdf here.
Peterborough’s Community Safety Partnership is committed to making Peterborough a safer place to live and work. We will achieve this by working to the following principles:
- By acknowledging that no one agency can achieve success alone – we will work together to achieve our aims
- By listening to our local communities, responding to their concerns and telling them about the action we have taken
- By encouraging the whole community to take responsibility for achieving these aims – we will find ways in which you can help us
More information about the Community Safety Partnership can be found at www.gpp-peterborough.org.uk
Fear of crime
We know that people’s experience of crime is not reflected in their
fear of being a victim. For example, in a recent British Crime Survey 3.5%
of households had been victims of domestic burglary but 51% of people were
worried about being a victim. We know that fear of crime can affect people
from all walks of life and 31% of people told the British Crime Survey that
fear of crime had a moderate impact upon their quality of life. We will
work with citizens and communities to establish the facts.
There are a number of reasons why people fear being a victim of
crime:
- They live in an area of high crime
- They have already been a victim of crime
- They feel vulnerable
- They are poorly informed
- They feel powerless and isolated
- They are subjected to persistent anti social behaviour
- The area where they live is such that a small amount of crime is very noticeable
We are working hard to tackle these issues and how we are going to do this is detailed in our Action Plan which can be found at www.gpp-peterborough.org.uk
Our Priorities
We have undertaken extensive consultation and your have told us that you are concerned about:
- Anti Social Behaviour
- Vandalism and criminal damage
- Burglary
- Drug misuse
- Violent crime
Our own statistics support what you have told us. If you want more detail about this research the Crime Audit can be found at www.gpp-peterborough.org.uk
Over the next three years we will work towards this aim by concentrating our efforts on
- those areas where the most significant differences will be made
- those areas that impact most on people’s quality of life
This document sets out those areas that will be our priorities during the coming three years. This document tells you what our priorities will be. The more detailed plans and strategies referenced in this document will tell you how we will achieve our aims.
In order to address your concerns our four priorities for the coming three years are:
- Tackling volume crime
- Tackling anti social behaviour
- Tackling violent crime
- Breaking the links between drugs/alcohol and crime
Each of these areas will be tackled by taking into account all the social factors that affect this particular issue. The work planned to tackle these issues can be seen in more detail in a number of local plans which contribute towards our aim of making Peterborough a safer place. These are:
- Local Policing Plan
- Youth Justice Plan
- Drug Action Team Plan
- Preventative Strategy
- Family Support Strategy
Reducing Volume Crime
(This means crime that occurs in the greatest numbers. The crime targeted may change from one year to the next)
Domestic Burglary accounted for 6% of all crime over the last 3 years and whilst domestic burglary increased between 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 the last year has seen a dramatic decrease of 27% in domestic burglary – this is a position that we must maintain and seek to improve upon.
Vehicle Crime has accounted for 18% of all crime in the
city over the last 3 years and during this time vehicle crime has reduced
by 24% to 28.2 crimes per 1000 population in 2003/2004. Once again we must
ensure that these significant decreases are maintained.
We know that there are a fairly small number of offenders in the city who
are responsible for significant levels of crime. To reduce crime effectively,
these individuals will be targeted ensuring that they are dealt with speedily
in the Criminal Justice System and that all that can be done, is done to
tackle the root cause of their offending and to prevent them returning to
offending.
This work is central to our Prolific and Other Priority Offenders (PPO)
Strategy. This can be found at www.gpp-peterborough.org.uk
This Strategy has three strands:
- Prevent and Deter
- Catch and Convict
- Rehabilitate and Resettle
2005 - 2008 Targets
- To reduce burglary dwelling to 987 crimes (38% reduction) against 2003/2004
- To reduce theft of vehicles to 893 crimes (30% reduction) against 2003/2004
- To reduce theft from vehicles to 1730 crimes (45% reduction) against 2003/2004
- To reduce theft from the person to 288 crimes (15% reduction) against 2003/2004
- To identify and target 35 prolific offenders per annum
Anti Social Behaviour
Tackling Anti Social Behaviour
We are committed to tackling anti social behaviour in all its forms. Anti
social behaviour blights people’s lives, seriously affects their quality
of life and increases their fear of crime. Tackling anti social behaviour
is not the sole responsibility of one particular organisation or the partnership
as a whole but of the whole community. Everyone in Peterborough including
citizens of the city need to play their part in order to ensure that anti
social behaviour is tackled and not tolerated. This means that anyone witnessing
anti social behaviour needs to report it and organisations who receive these
reports need to ensure that they investigate these reports and take appropriate
action to tackle the issues, while ensuring that victims and witnesses are
supported fully throughout the process.
To tackle anti social behaviour our priorities will be:
- Improving the way that we communicate across agencies and with the public
- Supporting communities to take action to improve their local area
- Reassuring residents and communities
- Tackle anti social behaviour using a range of methods – prevention, family support, education and enforcement
More detail can be found in our Anti Social Behaviour Strategy available at www.gpp-peterborough.org.uk
2005 – 2008 Targets
- To reduce criminal damage to 5352 crimes (12% reduction) against 2003/2004
- % of people who know where and how to report anti social behaviour (baseline to be gathered in 2005-2006 – targets will then be set for subsequent years)
- To increase the % of people invited to sign an Acceptable Behaviour Contract attending and signing from 65% to 85%
- To reduce the percentage of young people 16 – 18 who are not in education, employment or training in Peterborough by 5.6%, from 9.9% (605 young people) in November 2004 to 9.3% (570 young people) by November 2005 (this target will be updated annually)
Tackling Violent Crime
Over the past year violent crime has been an increase in the reporting
of incidents of violence, which is line with the trend nationally.
It is important to note that whilst we are committed to reducing incidents
of violence against the person, we know that historically people who are
victims of hate crime or domestic violence are reluctant to report these
incidents. We will, therefore, be working hard to increase reporting of
these crimes.
Given the information that we have about violence against the person, clear
links can be made to the evening economy in the city. We have a vibrant
evening economy which is welcomed in the city but the issues of alcohol
related crime and disorder must be addressed. The action that we are going
to take to make the city a safer place to visit during the evening are detailed
in our Evening Economy Strategy and Action Plan which can be found at www.gpp-peterborough.org.uk
2005 – 2008 Targets
To reduce robbery from person, wounding, and common assault to a total of
3024 crimes (22% reduction) against 2003/2004
Breaking the link between drugs/alcohol and crime
Alcohol related crime and disorder is on the increase. Alcohol is often linked to violent crime.
It is estimated that there are approximately 3,000 Class A (Heroin and Cocaine) drug users in our area. Approximately 500 have a significant criminal activity pattern related to Class A drugs usage and there is a smaller seriously prolific minority of 100-150. Between 10,000 and 20,000 family members will be impacted.
A £100 per week habit’ Class A drug user will on average commit 250 offences per annum and have an illegal income of around £20,000 per annum.
Official cost estimate figures suggest somewhere between £35m and £100m costs to victims, health providers, benefits system and Criminal Justice Sytem.
2005 – 2006 Targets
(These targets will be updated annually)
- Increase number of drug users into approved treatment programme from 407 (2001/02 baseline) to 700 by 2005/06 – at the present time it is estimated that there are 3000 problematic drug users in the city.
- Through the Drugs Intervention Programme (DIP) deliver drug testing to at least 95% of eligible cases and to engage at least half (50%) of those testing positively into treatment and interventions
- To deliver follow up treatments or interventions to 75% of drug users released from prison and referred by CARATS (Prison counselling, referral and throughcare service)
The Drug Action Team also has the following plans:
- Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Plan
- Treatment Plan
- Communities Plan
These plans, along with associated targets can be found at http://www.thelearningcity.co.uk/partnerships/drug_action_team/Default.asp
For more information about this Strategy or community safety matters in general please contact Peterborough City Council, Community Safety Team on 747474 or community.safety@peterborough.gov.uk
Hard copies of any of the documents referenced here can also be obtained from the Community Safety Team
Tackling Crime and Anti Social Behaviour and reducing the fear of crime - A Guide to Problem Solving
In order to assist local groups and individuals in taking action to make their local area safer, the Partnership has produced a booklet called Tackling Crime and Anti Social Behaviour and reducing the fear of crime - A Guide to Problem Solving.
This is available free of charge to all residents of the Peterborough area (and can be purchased at a cost of £5 for anyone from another local authority area) by contacting the Community Safety Team of Peterborough City Council on 01733 747474.