Reducing fear of crime
Being a victim of crime can be a traumatic and terrifying experience.
But fearing crime – even if this is unfounded – can cause stress, knock your confidence and affect your wellbeing.
However a campaign by Kensington and Chelsea Council to inform the public about the reality of crime levels appears to be having a positive effect.
The perception that crime levels are out of control has not been helped by a series of high-profile, violent fatalities across the capital this year.
The Council already works hard to reduce crime by encouraging residents to take action to discourage criminals – by ensuring windows and doors are properly locked to discourage burglars, for example.
But it also works closely with the Police to ensure the public are aware of the facts about crime.
Raising awareness
The Royal Borough had the lowest number of recordable offences between 2006 and 2007 for all 13 inner London boroughs; 24,328 compared to the average of 35,720.
It also has the second lowest rate of offences; 124 offences per 1,000 people per year compared to an average across London of 156.
Though the facts speak for themselves, that some people believe crime is higher than it is, seems to indicate that the facts need to talk a bit louder.
Though rates have been falling steadily, a 2006 residents’ survey showed that 23 per cent felt crime had gone up.
Tackling misconceptions
In response the Council initiated a campaign this year to spread the message that recorded crime in the borough has fallen by 5,500 offences – around 20 per cent – in the last three years.
Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), though not fully trained police officers, do have significant powers such as detaining suspects and issuing fixed penalty notices.
There are currently 127 PCSOs in the borough, with the Council providing £1.5 million a year to fund 76 of these.
With the help of the police, the Council has also initiated a marketing campaign designed to educate the public and community leaders about the reality of crime in the borough.
Leaflets highlighting the reality of crime levels are being distributed to those parts of the borough where a particular crime has been more prevalent.
For instance 10,000 leaflets were sent to residents informing them that house burglaries had fallen by 11 per cent in 2006 to 2007 – the leaflets were sent to areas where burglaries had been high in the past.
Posters advertising the figures have been placed in key areas across the borough such as the tube station at High Street Kensington.
Adverts have been placed in local newspapers, community magazines and the Council’s own publications.
Information has also been made widely available on the Council’s website.
Reducing fear
Two recent studies show that this is paying off. Fewer people fear crime or have misconceptions about crime.
The Council’s Resident’s Panel – consisting of more than 1,000 residents chosen at random – were quizzed about crime.
More than 500 responded to the survey and the results show that the number of people who felt ‘fairly or very safe’ in their local area during darkness has increased by seven per cent since 2006.
The number fearing someone physically harming or assaulting them has dropped by eight per cent since 2006 – the number of people fearing their car being stolen fell by seven per cent.
Meanwhile a study carried out by Mruk Research for the Metropolitan Police earlier this year shows that not only has crime fallen significantly in the last year, but that residents in Kensington and Chelsea are less worried about it than in almost all other London boroughs.
When asked about how worried they were about crime in the borough, 85 per cent of residents answered ‘not very’ or ‘not worried at all’ – the second highest percentage of all 32 boroughs.
In spite of this there is an argument that reported crime figures do not always accurately reflect the reality on the streets and the Council is also well aware that antisocial behaviour and drug use remain a real concern for some residents.
Do you think fear of crime is a significant problem? What else do you think could be done to raise the public’s awareness of this issue?
If you have any further comments please email them to
rbkcdirect@rbkc.gov.uk.
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