Page 5 - link magazine

The Link Magazine • August 2002
Crime reduction comes
from effective action fj7eU N B E ATA B L. E
The best way of dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour relies ir^e ^Carm4e
on different agencies and communities working together to identify
problems and the actions needed to solve them.. That's the responsi-
bility placed on the police and local councils by the Crime and
Disorder Act 1998. J
At a conference of police offic- of the individual, using their
ers, councillors and community knowledge of the law and also the
group representatives at the end access to information and re- •Je 1
of June to launch Swindon's sec- sources. It is critically important
ond Crime and Disorder Reduc- not to allow meetings to become
tion Strategy, the top six commu- talking shops, where it sounds like
nity safety priorities were identi- you're doing okay, but you're not
fied as: actually delivering anything. Part-
• anti-social behaviour nerships work if action is taken to
• dealing with hate crime deal with complaints quickly and
• protecting vulnerable people effectively."
• drugs and alcohol misuse The easy to read, colourfully il-
• working with young people as lustrated Crime and Disorder Re-
victims and perpetrators of duction Strategy April 2002 - March
crime 2005 document is available from
• making neighbourhoods safer the Crime and Disorder Implemen-
tation Team, Premier House,
Station Road, Swindon SN1
ITZ. Tel: 466473.
Also available is the Swin-
don Major Crime Audit 2001
which compares crime in
the town with others and
breaks down crime rates and
also perceptions of safety in
the community.
At a local level Neigh-
bourhood Safety Teams
(NeSTs) provide a forum for
representatives from com-
Launching the crime reduction plan, munity organisations,
Swindon's police chief Sup. Ian Maidment schools, councillors, coun-
with Bill Pitt and Crime and Disorder cil officers and the police to
coordinator Miriam Minty discuss issues of concern
such as crime, drug use,
The strategy documents set out
in detail how agencies and com- graffiti, vandalism, litter, play op-
munity organisations working to- portunities and youth provision.
gether under the umbrella of the Two NeSTs cover Toothill and
Safer Communities Strategic Board Freshbrook & Grange Park. Meet-
will tackle problems faced at a ings are not generally open to indi-
neighbourhood level. viduals. Concerns about an area
Conference guest speaker Bill should be raised via local council-
Pitt, head of the Nuisance Strategy lors or call Jane Dudley on 466473,
mail [email protected]
Group at Manchester City Council
which has been at the forefront of Getting ready for a community clean-
measures dealing with anti-social up at Freshbrook village centre on 20
behaviour, gave a hard hitting talk July, organised by the NeST: Terry
setting out what the Swindon Part- Iles of Freshbrook Village Group and
nership must do to build its cred- Jane Dudley front the Crime and Dis-
ibility. His unit has secured some order Unit
2,200 court orders against indi- El
viduals and families causing com-
munity disruption over the last
seven years.
"There needs to be a mix of solu-
tions which support vulnerable
people and also those causing ag- P1 r' 1nee
gravation. However, the bottom
line is that those who cause a nui-
^T mn Hi 1, St 34 WOOD ST.
sance must know that there will be c^nrre
severe consequences if they per- Pine &Cane t `'_"' t _8 U OLD TOWN,
sist in anti-social patterns of be- n 3 Arts SWINDON
een e
haviour. People must not be made Devizes Road Tel: (01793) 535320
to live in misery and fear, to feel Victoria Rd Wroughton $.
inadequate and tormented by *_1o,,', EASY OPEN : Monday to Saturday
small groups. CP1Ye PARKING 9.00am till 5.30pm.
rotnsenn, a
V in Old Town
"Communities want organisa- Sunday: 10.30 am till 4.30pm.
tions who will champion the needs L.