Latest news with #neighbourhoodPolicing
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds of town centres to see more police patrols in crime ‘blitz'
Hundreds of towns will see an increased police presence as part of the Government's new crime 'blitz' to crack down on shoplifting and anti-social behaviour by 'thugs and thieves'. More than 500 towns across England and Wales have signed up to the Home Office's safer streets summer initiative, which will run to September 30, with more visible policing and stronger enforcement to 'restore confidence in policing'. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said residents and businesses have a 'right to feel safe in their towns' but the last government left a 'surge' in crime. In a statement, she said: 'It's time to turn this round, that's why I have called on police forces and councils alike to work together to deliver a summer blitz on town centre crime to send a clear message to those people who bring misery to our towns that their crimes will no longer go unpunished.' She said part of the neighbourhood policing guarantee includes investment of £200 million this year to begin the recruitment of thousands of new neighbourhood policing officers. Speaking to members of policing and business sectors at Derby County Football Club's Pride Park Stadium on Thursday, Ms Cooper said every area will have 'named contactable officers for residents and businesses to be able to turn to'. Ms Cooper said: 'It's one of the most important things to restore confidence in policing is to have those neighbourhood police back on the beat dealing with those very crimes that cause so much problem. 'And if we don't see the police on the streets, then confidence is lost. And I think that is what's happened for far too long. 'If shoppers don't feel safe, they will stay home. People will just stay out of our town centres, and that heart of community will be lost. 'I think these kinds of crimes have been dismissed for too long because crime erodes the social fabric that binds us together and keeps communities strong. 'We've made town centres the very heart of the safer streets mission for this summer, taking back town centres from thugs and thieves – at the heart of that is rebuilding neighbourhood policing.' Half a million shoplifting offences in England and Wales were recorded by police last year, up 20% from 2023. In a statement, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: 'We are on the side of local businesses, and our plan for change is helping create the right conditions for our great British high streets to thrive. 'The Safer Streets Summer Initiative will play a vital role in achieving this by keeping footfall high, communities and those that work in them safe, and the economy growing.' Anthony Hemmerdinger, managing director of Boots, said: 'Retail theft alongside intimidation and abuse of our team members is unacceptable, so we welcome this additional support from Government and the police to strengthen shop worker protection.' Police and crime commissioners across England and Wales have developed local action plans with police, including in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Humberside, Devon and Cornwall.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- BBC News
Police tackle anti-social behaviour in Kent seaside towns
Nineteen people have been moved on from Kent coast town centres as part of efforts to curb anti-social behaviour, police have said. Over the weekend from Friday, dispersal orders were placed in Herne Bay and Police said neighbourhood policing teams patrolled the areas and were able to identify and tackle nuisance behaviour."Those identified were ordered to leave the local area and told that they could not return for 24 hours as they risked further prosecution," a spokesperson for the force said. The temporary measures were implemented as part of a response to reports of underage street drinking and aggressive behaviour towards staff at shops and restaurants between 19 to 21 June, the force arrested and interviewed four people aged from 12 to 17 in relation to a disturbance in Victoria Park, Herne Bay, which allegedly took place on 23 June. Two people have been bailed with conditions and another two people have been released under investigation, police also interviewed several teenagers following reports of thefts from retail shops in both Herne Bay and Whitstable. Ch Insp Paul Stoner Paul Stoner said: "Through the dispersal orders set in place over the weekend, officers have been able to act swiftly to prevent issues from escalating."Residents, visitors, and businesses deserve to feel safe, and Kent Police will continue to work to ensure Herne Bay and Whitstable remain welcoming places for everyone to enjoy."
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Police say they need more money to fulfil Labour promises on crime – are they right?
Leaders of six major police forces, including Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, have warned Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, against a repeat of 'the retrenchment we saw under austerity.' They say that without more money, Labour's missions of halving knife crime and halving violence against women and girls will not happen. An article in The Times warning that 'without investment there will be no restoration of the prevention-focused neighbourhood policing' was signed by Sir Mark, Gavin Stephens, the chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, and the chief constables of Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. At the same time, Sir Mark has joined privately with the heads of MI5 and the National Crime Agency to warn Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, that her plans to release prisoners early could be a 'net detriment to public safety.' They say they would need 'necessary resources' to contain the risks to the public of the early release of dangerous criminals. Are these just bids in spending negotiations? The negotiations for the spending review on 11 June are still under way, with the Home Office and Department of Justice two of the departments that have yet to agree their budgets for the next four years with the Treasury. It is not unusual at this stage of the discussions for interest groups to support their departments' demands for more money with blood-curdling warnings of the terrible consequences of failure to secure the funds they want. That said, the police have a strong case on both fronts. Labour made manifesto promises on crime that cannot be delivered on the cheap, and the early release scheme is bound to increase the risk to the public, however marginally. No wonder the negotiations are going badly. It is reported that 'some' secretaries of state are refusing to deal with Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who is traditionally in charge of spending discussions – they are insisting on taking their case directly to Rachel Reeves, the chancellor. Will Reeves give them the money? In the immortal words of Liam Byrne, the last chief secretary to the Treasury in a Labour government, 'there is no money'. The spending 'envelope' – the total – has been set and the announcement on 11 June is only on how it will be divided between departments. To make matters worse, Reeves already has to find additional money since her last checkpoint, which was the spring statement in March. Then, just to stay within her fiscal rules, she announced savings of £5bn a year from the welfare budget. Since then, the world economy has been threatened by Donald Trump's trade war, and government borrowing has been higher than expected. On top of which, the prime minister has just announced a U-turn, restoring winter fuel payments to an unspecified number of pensioners, and Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, this week confirmed that the government was considering lifting the two-child limit on universal credit payments. It is hard to see how Reeves can make her sums add up without more tax rises in the Budget in the autumn. Will we go back to the 'austerity' era for the police? The most frightening word in the police chiefs' article was 'austerity'. Labour is well aware that George Osborne's spending cuts to non-protected departments (anything that isn't health, defence or schools) were damaging to the Conservatives in the 2017 election. Police numbers fell by 8 per cent between the end of the last Labour government in 2010 to 2017. Theresa May responded to that disastrous election by reversing the trend: numbers had recovered by the election last year. It seems unlikely that police budgets will be squeezed on 11 June by anything like what happened in the Osborne years – and the memory of how Labour used police cuts as a campaign issue against the Tories ought to guarantee that 'austerity' on that scale does not happen again.
