Rising Crime Rates: What's the answer?



Crime rates have been steadily rising since 2010, following the closure of Wythall Police station.

The police station was closed due to government cuts, meaning officers have a 10-mile drive from Redditch Police station to Wythall Residents.

"It's ridiculous," said Mabel Johnson, 88, "I've lived in Wythall nearly 30 years and we've always had a police station and a strong police presence in the community.



"Since it was closed a few years ago, there's been countless burglaries, my next door neighbours house was ransacked. It makes us feel unsafe in our own homes."

In 2018 there was 1255 incidents reported to the police, the highest it's been in ten years.

Police Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, John Campion, said: "Recorded crime has increased nationally and is continually evolving.

"I am reassured that, as a force, West Mercia work hard to proactively combat issues at the root, particularly with emerging crime types such as cybercrime.



"Naturally, there are many variables that impact crime rates but officers have always been out in the community.

"As Commissioner I committed to increasing officer numbers and have delivered an extra 250 officers, bringing numbers back to the highest level since 2012.

"Alongside our Safer Neighbourhood and response officers, Police Community Support Officer's play a vital role within our community and are often the first port of call when dealing with community concerns.



"I have a choice on how the police funds are spent - on officers or buildings?

"Officer numbers will always be a priority.

"Policing is advancing, greater emphasis on mobile policing with the use of laptops, phones, and mobile police stations allow officers to be more accessible and visible for local people."



Whether the rise in crime is related to the lack of police in Wythall is true, it's clear the residents aren't happy with closure.

Four years ago, they started a petition to re-open the police station, gaining 305 signatures.

However, this wasn't enough to attract the attention of Bromsgrove MP, Sajid Javid, and the petition is now closed.



Mabel believes that the current crime in Wythall would decrease if the police station was reopened: "I don't understand why they spend all that money converting it into flats when the reason for closing it was to save money.

"The only way to make sure our community is a safe place is to reinstate a police station."

Comments

  1. They can not reinstate the police station. They sold the building off in order to cope with the cuts to the police budget. If they opened a new police station they would have to buy a new property.

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