THE POLICE and Crime Commisioner for Hampshire has urged Basingstoke residents to report any and all crimes to the police if they want to see improvements made to street safety resources in the town.
Donna Jones has said that "the public really need to make sure they are reporting crimes", especially in areas they believe are badly lit or poorly monitored at night.
As previously reported, some Basingstoke residents have recently said that they do not feel safe enough to leave their homes at night.
A resident survey, undertaken by councillors in Brighton Hill last year, showed that half of respondents said they feel unsafe leaving their house during the night, with the results published last month.
READ MORE: Brighton Hill residents say they do not feel safe at night
Speaking about the survey Cllr Andrea Bowes said: “While 97 per cent felt very or fairly safe in the home or outside during the day this dropped to only half of the respondents feeling very or fairly safe out and about at night.
“This appears to be largely down to the fear of anti-social behaviour, which is backed up by the increase in reports received by us as councillors.”
At a Crime Summit event held last month, the Gazette asked Donna Jones about the potential of increased measures to help deter night-time crime, such as more street lighting and CCTV, and in particular about whether funding from the Government’s Safer Street’s fund could be used for this.
She said: “Safer Streets has now been running for more than three years. We have had rounds one, two and three and we are just waiting for Safer Streets round four bids to be announced.
“Streetlighting is definitely something which can be included, and where street lighting has been turned down, police work with councils in the local area to give feedback, very much supported by crime data, so the public really need to make sure they are reporting incidents in badly lit areas, online if possible.”
SEE ALSO: Focus is on making streets safer, says Kit Malthouse
However, Ms Jones recognised that work needs to be done to improve communciatrion between the police force and reporters.
She added: “What’s the point in reporting a crime if nothing ever gets done about it? I have huge respect for Hampshire Constabulary and the challenges that they have. [They] are generally working incredibly hard with the information you give them on the 101 service, but what we now need to do is start giving you the feedback.
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