Community co-operation sees drop in violent crime in Bognor Regis

The dramatic reduction in public place offences means their number is probably at the lowest this century.

The result of the 53 per cent decline in the incidents '“ which range from breaching an anti-social behaviour order to assaults to murder '“ has reduced them to about one a day.

This is among the five greatest declines around Sussex.

Inspector John Merrick, of Bognor police station, said the streets of Bognor were safer than they had been for a long time.

"The past year has seen 388 public place violent crimes compared to 822 the previous year.

"If you go back to the year before that, we were averaging more than 1,000 of those crimes a year '“ and the number was rising year after year.

"Bognor seafront accounted for 35 per cent of the GBHs across the western division three or four years ago," he stated. "But it is now much safer to go out in the town on Friday and Saturday nights.

"We are not getting the GBHs we used to have every weekend and we are not getting the problems we used to have in licensed premises either."

The unprecedented slump in violence had stemmed from close working with others such as Arun District Council and premises licensees in pubs and clubs.

It was also the result of changes in policing patterns and methods.

"We went back to basics," explained Insp Merrick. "A lot of it is commonsense.

"We restructured the way we worked on Friday and Saturday nights to put more officers on the streets to make people feel safer.

"Having a bigger presence of officers also means we are able to react more quickly to incidents.

"One of the key messages I give the officers is to get involved earlier if they see a problem arising. It is far better to nip it in the bud than let a situation develop."

For that reason, offenders are more likely to be taken into custody and handed fixed penalty notices, rather than given the notices on the streets and allowed to stay in the area.

But the recession is also thought to have played a part in the reduction of violence by cutting the amount of money which individuals have to spend on alcohol and lengthy nights out.

What do you think? Click here to send a letter or leave a comment below.

Click here to go back to Chichester news

Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news

Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news

To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click on the link below to add yourself to our readers' map.

MAP