Many suburbs in the City have been on the receiving end of a series of criminal activities of late. Youths on stolen motorbikes, who day and night intimidate and threaten residents, breaking into vans, disrupting people’s ability to earn a living. A rise in knife crime and a stark rise in anti-social behaviour, much of which can only be described as deliberate, organised crime. Local police teams have worked hard and  are excellent individuals doing the best they can with limited resources. But it is clear that there is simply not adequate staffing.

"At around 3am, one morning in September, A noise woke me up. I thought it came from my back garden, so stuck my head out of the bedroom window, and called out. I was spotted by two people attempting to break into a van parked next to my house. After a torrent of abuse, they rode their mopeds into my car, smashing half of the windows with a tool or weapon, and causing substantial damage to the bodywork with the same. They were kind enough to let me know they would be back the following night to smash up and burn me and my house."

10 years of cuts and under funding has stripped the police’s ability to respond to this type of criminal activity.

This needs to change!

Local residents in the West of Southampton have argued that
The Police and Crime Comissioner's aim to

“ENABLE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT POLICING
Which meets the needs of the people it serves,  […].”

is falling short of public expectations.

That in city suburbs, there is a need for more police resources sooner rather than later, in both local neighbourhood policing teams and in response teams available to respond to current and active incidents.

That 101 call handling processes are resource-only lead, with little to no concern shown to victims of crime. That there is a desperate need for retraining of 101 operators in victim management, and the process of closing cases as a matter of course once a crime number is issued gives a contradictory message to the general public that their case is simply not important enough for the police to take seriously.

"I have heard various accounts of the lack of empathy and compassion of some 101 call handlers. A victim’s first port of call after a crime is the 101 service; they are feeling vulnerable and possibly unsafe. Surely it is the call handler’s duty of care to provide some support and comprehension of what has just happened to that person. I have heard that some members of the community are resorting to calling the emergency 999 service as they have lost all confidence in the 101 operators taking their incident seriously. It is worrying that this vital emergency line is being utilised in this manner."

And that we, the community on the west side of Southampton, call for: In the immediate to short term:

1. At least one new response vehicle with a full complement of officers to operate such a vehicle 24 hours a day;  7 days a week.

2. An additional team of PCs, PCSOs and a sergeant (complement of 4) to be added to the local neighbourhood policing team currently operating out of Redbridge Fire Station.

3. That Southampton City gets its fair share of extra police numbers, as they are recruited and complete their training.