Political opinion column with Yvette Cooper: Police up, crime down in our towns
More police in our town centres this summer brought crime down. It’s not rocket science - extra police out on the beat helps prevent crime and keep communities safe. That’s why I’ve been working so hard to get more neighbourhood policing and why I want us to go further too.
At the General Election, Labour promised to increase neighbourhood policing after the Tories decimated it, and that’s exactly what we’ve done this year. As Home Secretary last year I put £200m extra investment into creating 3,000 more neighbourhood police across the country, over 100 of those right here in West Yorkshire.
That included a 50 per cent increase in police officers in Castleford, while in Pontefract, officers are up by a third. It means for the first time for more than fifteen years, we have seven day a week neighbourhood policing back in the Five Towns.
Alongside the extra police officers, the Government also announced there would be a summer blitz by police forces and councils across the country to tackle town centre crime.
Round here we saw some real results. The police have said that crime rates in Castleford town centre this summer were half the level of the year before. That’s the result of extra police in town working with the council and with our local traders and businesses. And it is the real difference Labour’s action to bring back the Bobby on the beat has made. Across the Wakefield district we saw the highest reduction in crime in West Yorkshire. Neighbourhood police back in our towns, supporting our communities.
But I want things to go further. That’s why when I’m out chatting to people in town or on the doorstep, I’m also running a local crime survey so I can pass on to the police information on where crime is happening in your area.
And it’s also why I’ve pushed for new law changes to tackle anti-social behaviour and town centre crime. Because if small number of people are allowed to cause havoc in town centres, it is a nightmare for residents, local businesses and shop staff and it undermines our communities.
New measures include Respect Orders so that repeat offenders can be banned from town centres, keeping shop workers and shoppers safer. And we’re making assault of a retail worker a separate offence to keep track of the problem and show that it is never acceptable.
New restrictions on off-road bikes will give police the power to seize the vehicle then and there rather than having to give the offender a warning. We won’t let behaviour that lets our towns down go unchecked.
Increased numbers of police, equipped with increased powers, keeping our streets safe. That is what this Labour Government is delivering in the Five Towns.