You cannot overstate the impact local crime and anti-social behaviour has on our towns and villages. It makes residents feel unsafe, ruins the landscape and hinders our ambitions to make Bolsover a tourist hotspot. I am determined to work with the Government and our local police to ensure our neighbourhoods are a safe place for all of us.
Since being elected in 2019, I have made tackling crime and anti-social behaviour one of my main priorities for the Bolsover constituency. This includes joining the local policing units on patrol, supporting CCTV in town centres, asking the Minister for Policing for more officers on the beat and running crime surveys in local hotspots such as Shirebrook and Holmewood.
The Government is also taking some very positive steps to address this, including hitting its manifesto target of hiring 20,000 more police officers (more than 350 in Derbyshire alone) and using Derbyshire as a pilot area for new Immediate Justice and Hotspot policing measures. This means we will soon see the introduction of several new police and Local Authority powers designed to combat rising anti-social behaviour in our communities, such as:
• Increased police visibility in our communities
• Offenders made to repair the damage they cause.
• The police and Local Authority given more tools to tackle antisocial behaviour including expanding drug testing on arrest.
• Banning nitrous oxide.
• Increasing on-the-spot fines for offences such as graffiti and fly-tipping.
There is more work to be done, and this remains a persistent challenge, but these measures will help put more power in the hands of victims and ensure those damaging our communities pay the price for their actions.
