Shropshire survey shows more police action required to beat anti-social behaviour
Problems with anti-social behaviour in communities were among the issues raised by Shropshire residents in a policing survey.
The initiative was set up as part of the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner's pledge to listen and act on the concerns of the public.
A survey highlighted that some elements of the force has been working well and where there were are areas for improvement in the county.
The responses showed that 81 per cent tended to agree or strongly agreed they had confidence in the force, 63 per cent tended to agree or strongly agreed that the force understood community concerns, 37 per cent said crime and anti-social behaviour was quite a big or very big problem, while 61 per cent said the force was doing a good or excellent job.
Police and crime commissioner John Campion said: “I have made a commitment to listen to people’s concerns and act on them. One of the ways I do this is through this survey, which ensures that I can understand and react to the views and concerns of Shropshire communities.
"The results give an invaluable insight into what is working well, and where improvements need to be made.
“The survey results show that overall, Shropshire communities have confidence in West Mercia Police. However, I do recognise that there is work to be done to improve the perception of crime and anti-social behaviour.
"I promised communities that I would increase police officer numbers to tackle these crimes, and the recruitment of new officers has progressed over the last few months despite the challenges we are currently facing, due to Covid-19.
"The uplift in officer numbers will enable greater resources to be allocated into local policing and problem-solving teams to tackle these issues.
“In my recent ‘holding to account meeting’ with the chief constable, I made sure that people’s views on local policing were raised, and I will continue to work with West Mercia Police to make sure improvements are delivered for the communities of Shropshire.”
Thousands of people across West Mercia were interviewed for the survey over a 12-month period. The interviews were carried out by independent third party researchers using a representative sample from across each local policing area.
