A safer place to live

12:09pm Monday 9th June 2008

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A campaign called Safer Herts has been launched today to spread the word that Hertfordshire really is a safe place in which to live, work and visit.

Local dignitaries and chief officers turned out in force to launch the campaign, which includes advertisements on the back of 98 buses travelling across the county.

Nick Parry, Deputy Chief Executive of Stevenage Borough Council, said: "We have the lowest crime figures for six years and crime in the county went down by over 12 per cent in the last year alone.

"But, despite these low crime rates, some people still say they don't feel as safe as they are. All the local authorities, health, fire and rescue and police, together with HertsWatch and other voluntary organisations, are pulling together to spread the Safer Herts message."

Chief Constable Frank Whiteley said: "It's all about making sure people know the facts.

"There are now record numbers of local police officers and Police Community Support Officers working with local communities to tackle anti-social behaviour and crime and making them even safer places to live.

"But all too often people's perception of local crime and disorder does not reflect reality because it is often influenced by local and national media and even storylines in TV soaps."

The campaign also aims to discourage the myth that young people hanging around in groups are always "up to something".

"Young people are often unfairly branded as young vandals' and blamed for crime and disorder - there are more than 170,000 school-aged children in the county and the vast and overwhelming majority of them are well-behaved citizens who never get into, or cause, any trouble," said County Executive Member for Community Safety and Police Authority Vice-Chair, Councillor Richard Smith.

"In fact, young people are more likely to be victims of crime than offenders." The majority of criminal damage offences detected are carried out by people over the age of 18.

A survey will be carried out during June and July to see if the campaign has been successful.

The campaign will be drumming home the message that: Overall crime in Hertfordshire fell by over 12 per cent last year, with 11,255 fewer victims.

Our town centres and streets are safer: last year violent crime fell by 21 per cent, serious violent crime fell by 31 per cent and robbery fell by 23 per cent.