Safe Social Communities
Safe Social Communities
Despite the occasional terrible crime that we have seen, Dorset remains the 6th safest place in the country with towns in MDNP some of the most secure. However, we know that despite this, some parts of society especially teenagers and young adults and elderly people do not feel safe and there is real concern about continuing violence against women and girls as well as increasing hate crimes towards marginalised groups.
For communities to thrive people need to feel part of something that matters – we learned that during the Covid lockdowns.
I welcome the news that police numbers have increased but this is only a return to numbers before austerity. We need visible, regular community policing to build trust and we need communities to do their part by reporting incidents and getting involved in neighbourhood projects.
But to feel safe we urgently need Government to
- Provide a statutory guarantee that all burglaries will be attended by police and properly investigated.
- Set up a new Online Crime Agency so police forces can focus on crime in communities.
- Properly fund the courts so people get justice more quickly.
- Focusing time in prison on rehabilitation following the great work of prisons like Guys Marsh
- Scrap costly Police and Crime Commissioners, refocusing the money on frontline policing.
- Urgently act on the Baroness Casey review so the public have confidence in the vetting, training and behaviours of police
- Invest in officers to tackle modern slavery and trafficking using a Public Health approach to crime addressing the root causes.
- Invest in youth services and early intervention.
- Expand the good Trauma Informed Police work being undertaken in Dorset to support victims and professionals working them.