Shirebrook crime stats + Angelique Foster PCC Summit Shirebrook 2022

A few weeks ago Angelique Foster (Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner) held a Summit in Shirebrook for all Parish councillors serving in Bolsover District. There are 16 Parish Councils in Bolsover District with around 160 councillors serving (I am averaging- I don’t have time to calculate the exact number). Of those 160 invited to Shirebrook came…12. STC councillors I counted 6. Good turnout for STC, hopeless for the rest of the District.

Before I start boring you about the PCC Summit highlights I’d like to start with something closer to our homes. This will be followed by some interesting pictures showing the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Derbyshire PCC office on safety. However, before we get into the details of the PCC Summit I would like to focus for a moment on the crime statistics in Shirebrook.

SHIREBROOK CRIME STATS
It is with pride and gratitude to all police officers working in Shirebrook that I would like to reiterate a historic fact: for the first time since I have been collecting crime statistics, I have recorded a significant decrease in crimes committed in the Shirebrook area (I am leaving aside the decrease caused by the pandemic). This decrease can be clearly seen in the graph:

What’s more: in February 2022, for the first time in 36 months (3 years!), the number of recorded crimes fell below 90. I know that for such a small area this is still a very high number, and compared to other towns in the district our town looks like some kind of criminal ghetto, but it is important that the police broke the trend. I hope that the changes in policing strategy that Angelique Foster is now implementing and the increased number of police officers in our area will make this trend continue.

It is also worth pointing out that while under the previous PCC crime either stagnated or rose but the pandemic stirred up the statistics. During the lockdown, crime fell below historic lows only to explode with redoubled force after the lockdowns were lifted. Therefore the current drop is a fall from high levels and this should be taken as a good prognosis rather than the ultimate success of police. It seems to me that the trend would have to continue for several months for the change to be felt. I will of course continue to keep a close eye on and archive the statistics so that I can present them to S247 readers from time to time.

OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM
In the eyes of most residents, the biggest problem in our township is Antisocial behaviour (ASB) but when you look at the statistics it appears that we have a bigger problem with violence and sexual offences. In my opinion, this category is a bit misleading because there is a huge difference between punching someone in the face with your fist (violence) and for example rape (sexual offence).

Anyway- while ASB is annoying this other category is a serious crime that can have a long term impact on local residents, victims and property both private and public. Such high levels of physical and sexual violence are really worrying, and the worst part is that everyone is more focused on ASB. Personally, I would like to see details of the ” violence and sexual offences” statistics – how much of this is “violence” and how much is “sexual offences”.

I once asked police officers who visited the STC meeting about this. Unfortunately, these statistics are compiled outside Shirebrook and they were unable to explain to me the percentage distribution of these two crimes in this category. They did, however, emphasise that a significant proportion of these crimes are ‘domestic abuse’, which has increased greatly since the pandemic outbreak.

While there is nothing the STC can do about “violence and sexual offences” the impact on ASB could be huge if the STC finally understood its role in this issue. Why does the STC under Labour’s leaders refuse to take its share of responsibility and not even try to do something about it? I don’t know. I don’t understand this. STC collects the largest taxes from residents in the district yet these are not used to improve the safety of residents just dissipate somewhere in the LC and at the numerous events organised by the township. Should leisure be a priority for STC? In my opinion- NO.

HIGHLIGHTS OF PCC SUMMIT
Among the most important pieces of information were the actions taken both by Angelique Foster and those initiated by the central government. From everything that has been said, I have selected what I believe to be the most important points.

101
Angelique Foster PCC has increased funding for the 101 number in the latest budget. This is in direct response to calls from residents about the problem of connecting to this service. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that unless you are in immediate danger you can also report a crime online- in my opinion, this is a much more convenient and reliable way. If you do not know where to report a crime, you can use the website below, which will suggest and direct you to the right place:

https://www.police.uk/pu/contact-the-police/report-a-crime-incident/

RECRUITMENT
“Recruitment drive” for new police officers will not only continue but will actually be made easier for candidates due to the removal of the requirement for a university degree. Don’t have a university degree but are you a good person? Do you have a head on your shoulders and cohones? Would you like a challenging job with good pay and steady employment? An exciting new career path has just opened up for you.

BRACKEN ROAD INCIDENT REVIEW
The recent events on Bracken Road will be reviewed once again in terms of the quality of the policing response and as Angelique Foster has assured us- her office will be involved in this (albeit in a limited role as the PCC is a strategic rather than operational function).

NEW PCC GRANT
The next round of grants allocated by the PCC office will start in the summer. In my opinion STC should review the first unsuccessful application. STC councillors should see copies of the documents sent out and decide what to change to increase the chances of the next application being successful. I don’t have high hopes that this will happen.

In my opinion, it makes no sense to submit a grant application for a project that STC has long since set aside money for. This grant could be used for a new project that would aim to reduce ASB. Unfortunately- STC has never even entered into a discussion about this.

PRO-ACTIVE SPEED ENFORCEMENT
This element of the changes being introduced by Angelique Foster is also likely to have a physical presence in Shirebrook. As I mentioned in the last STC meeting report- our town is considering applying for PCC funding for three “speed radars”.

RURAL CRIME
A special place in the discussion was given to so-called “rural crime”. Very often this aspect of security is overlooked by the MSM and decision-makers because crime in big cities is much more visible. However, the PCC recognised that crime in “rural areas” also requires appropriate measures and a new approach, as the previous PCC neglected this aspect – hence the decision to put special emphasis on this point. The main thrust of the new strategy is, of course, to increase the number of police in rural areas, renew volunteer programmes, and increase funding for neighbourhood watch and farm watch schemes.

VICTIM SERVICES
People living in rural areas are not used to facing criminals and dealing with the consequences of their actions. Hence the PCC has decided to place emphasis on helping and developing such initiatives. Currently, the most heavily promoted victim support service is CORE Derbyshire. You can find out more about it here: https://www.core-derbyshire.com/

PCC DERBYSHIRE CRIME SURVEY
Some time ago Angelique Foster carried out a survey of public opinion in Derbyshire, the results of which helped to outline priorities for changes to policing strategy within our county. You can find the full report on this along with additional charts here:

https://www.derbyshire-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/content/L2U-2020-21-CSPs-FV.pdf

I have edited the answers to some of the questions so that only the summary of the answers is visible – I think this is more readable, but if you want to see the full results I recommend the link above.