Steve McCabe MP has revealed that over half of people who responded to his constituency wide consultation on crime and policing told him that they, or someone they know, had been a victim of crime or anti-social behaviour in the last year and people fear anti-social behaviour is taking over our streets.
Steve is sharing key results from his consultation ahead of a key debate on 10 October on the shocking rise in anti-social behaviour.
- 69% of people were extremely concerned about the rise in crime
- 88% of people said police invisibility is not improving and they do not see many police and community support officers as they used to
- 11% of people told Steve that they had used the non-emergency 101 number to report anti-social behaviour and it had worked well, 27% of people said they had used 101 but it was not satisfactory. Surprisingly 38% of people had not heard of the 101 service.
Birmingham MP, Steve McCabe has secured a key debate in Parliament on the shocking rise in anti-social behaviour and crime on 10 October,
The MP led a live video chat on Facebook on Tuesday 3 October to ask constituents how they felt about rising crime and anti-social behaviour. Hundreds of people have watched with many people saying they feel too scared to leave their house after dark because of anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhood.
West Midlands Police force has experienced a real terms funding reductions of £145m since April 2011, a total real loss of funding of 27%*. This has led to a reduction of over 2,000 police offices on our streets.
Steve McCabe MP said:
“Since Theresa May abolished ASBOs and implemented huge cuts to our police, anti-social behaviour has been steadily rising. It’s often the gateway to more serious crime as can be seen with the problems posed by thugs on motorcycles. We are seeing gangs, acting like mini mobsters, taking over whole neighbourhoods and terrorising local residents. These idiots on motor cycles are not only intimidating law abiding citizens but their reckless riding endangers their own lives as well as putting other road users and pedestrians in danger and makes entirely unreasonable demands on our emergency services.
“People are telling me they are scared to leave their house and walk down the street in neighbourhoods where they’ve lived for years. How can this be right? The Government needs to take action to tackle this menace now. I’m sick and tired of hearing ministers pretend that crime is falling and ignoring the reality of life for far too many people up and down this country. It’s time they woke up to the fact that their policies have led to an explosion in certain types of offences and unless we have more police with more resources and more powers to take on these mini gangsters, there’s a real risk of losing control of the streets and whole neighbourhoods. I’m going to be giving it to them straight in this debate and I’m looking for guarantees of real action to make a difference. People have had enough.”
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