• Preliminary report reveals 58% 'very concerned', 35% 'slightly concerned' by the issue
• Survey shows 40% of crime victims do not report crime to the police
• Joanne says figures are 'totally unacceptable' and demonstrate the failure of ten years of Labour's 'top down' law and order policy
• Joanne supports council initiatives to address crime locally including the Safer Neighbourhood teams, CivicWatch citizens and crime hotlines
Joanne today released her preliminary report into crime in Westminster. 93% of those questioned expressed concerns about levels of anti-social behaviour in the local area; 58% of respondents to Joanne’s crime survey claimed to be 'very concerned’ about the issue, with a further 35% expressing ‘slight’ concerns. Of the residents surveyed who have been victims of crime in the past 12 months, almost 40% failed to report it to the police; over half suggest that this was because they felt that the police lacked either the ability or the inclination to take the requisite action.
The preliminary report provides an analysis of the responses to Joanne’s crime survey, distributed at tube stations across Westminster North in late September, of which there were in excess of two hundred. The survey, part of Joanne's 'Safer Neighbourhoods' campaign, sought to consult residents about their views on a variety of crime related issues including police numbers, levels of anti-social behaviour and crime reporting.
Commenting on the report Joanne said: 'The most horrendous aspect of my research is that 40% of victims of crime in the last twelve months have not felt able to report it to the police, primarily because they believe the police are unable to help them. This is totally unacceptable. Our police forces have become so overwhelmed with Government targets and red tape that the public no longer feels protected. I want the police free to do the job they do best and the public to feel safe again.'
Joanne supports the community based approach to crime adopted by Westminster's award winning Conservative Council. Following the announcement last week that 700 citizens have now signed up to the CivicWatch scheme she said: 'Westminster City Council is leading the way in innovative and local ways of addressing crime and anti-social behaviour. The CivicWatch citizen scheme, the Safer Neighbourhood teams and the council's crime hotlines provide an effective link between residents and our overstretched police. The Government must abandon its failed target driven approach to law and order, and back these initiatives which give local residents and the police more power to tackle crime in their communities.'
To view the preliminary analysis of Joanne's crime survey, please click on the link below:
