Tackling Crime: Update on two Lib Dem Campaigns

Good news today as the Police report the arrest of two people for criminal damage offences (tagging) in the Erleigh Road area.

This follows the launch of our local campaign for action on tagging a couple of weeks ago.

It's good also to hear Inspector Kevin Sinfield reiterate the Police's commitment to dealing with this problem. From discussions I've had with him the problem comes when these cases get to court and the way magistrates deal with these type of offences and offenders.

I am aware that officers from RBC and TVP are meeting today to discuss the issues we have raised and ensure that resources are targetted in the right areas. I will be meeting officers shortly to get an update on what these bodies plan to do about the graffiti upsurge in Redlands and much of central and south Reading.

I know Kevin very well and have the utmost respect for him: he has invested a lot of time and effort in making  Neighbourhood Policing work for the local community of South and East Reading - attending hundreds of Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) meetings over the past couple of years. 

I meet him regularly to discuss local crime matters.

In other campaign news, I held a meeting last Friday with Cllr Warren Swaine and senior RBC officers from Marketing & PR to discuss the roll-out of a communications package for Neighbourhood Action Groups - a key Lib Dem win for local people out of the Budget process in March.

The meeting was very positive and it was great to hear how the money saved by scrapping 'Live Reading' magazine will be put to good use: engaging the local community about crime issues which affect them.

Officers are currently meeting with the Police, NAG chairs and councillors work out what communication support will be most useful to NAGs. I personally think a regular e-newsletter and leaflet for all NAGs is essential so that local people can find out when NAG meetings are and how they can get involved.

Publicising the work of the NAGs will also raise the profile of Neighbourhood Police teams in Reading and increase community confidence and reduce fear of crime.

It's not just the Lib Dems in Reading who have been saying this. Experts appointed by the government to review where Labour went wrong in the fight against crime have said the same thing.

Last June, Louise Casey led a Cabinet Office review into how best to engage communities in fighting crime and one of her key findings was that local people want more information about crime and crime fighting in their areas and they want following:

• Information about action – they want to know what the police and others are doingto tackle crime, they want feedback on action where they have reported crimes or raised problems, and to see and hear more about what happens to people arrested and convicted of crime, including more visible signs of punishment in the community. ‘What action has bee taken and who has been caught and punished’

• Straight facts – not just statistics, but reliable, clear, accessible and ‘non-spun’ facts so that theycan see not just what problems are occurring but what steps are being taken to tackle them.

• Practical information – providing names, photographs, phone numbers and e-mailaddresses of local police teams and other agencies, how to report non-emergency incidents and follow other police procedures, where and when to meet them to discuss concerns and priorities and other opportunities to get involved in tackling and preventing crime Information from a variety of sources – suggestions included ‘advertorials’ in localnewspapers, local newsletters, through Neighbourhood Watch, in public meetings, ‘surgeries’,walk-in centres and street-meetings, direct from chatting to police officers and PCSOs on thebeat, and through websites, e-mails, mobile phone texting and messaging networks.

• Local information – relevant to the neighbourhood they live in.

• Regular information

– the strongest preference was for monthly information

Obvious really. But like most things this government has done, the implementation of Neighbourhood Policing was rushed and ill-thought out, hence the need for active councillors to campaign to put things right at a local level in the way we are trying to do.