ANALYSIS of police figures has revealed the extent of crime and anti-social behaviour on our streets, with trouble on the increase in Weymouth town centre.
The number of crimes reported to the police jumped by a third for the year to the end of September compared with the same period last year.
It comes as police announce how they intend to tackle problems in central Weymouth, the area’s most deprived ward, which has been blighted by violent crime and public order offences.
There have been concerns over this year following a rise in violence that the town’s image is being tarnished by incidents of assaults and anti-social behaviour.
A campaigner has repeated his call for extra officers on the streets.
Figures included in the police force’s crime map reveal which areas have the most reports of crime and anti-social behaviour.
Results are broken down by neighbourhood policing team (NPT). The Echo has analysed the figures for NPTs in west, south and north Dorset as well as those in Purbeck.
Melcombe Regis, which covers Weymouth town centre, has had 2,425 reports of crime or anti-social behaviour so far this year.
It is the worst area outside Poole and Bournemouth town centres where there have been 2,587 reports and 4,807 reports respectively.
Crime is on the up in Weymouth town centre, with 1,822 reports of crime and anti-social behaviour for the same period in 2015 and 2,460 reports for the whole of that year.
The worst areas after Melcombe Regis are Westham (1,008 reports), Portland (996), Dorchester North, which includes most of the main town centre (762), and Dorchester South (625).
The five places with the lowest number of reports were all predictably in rural locations.
These were Sturminster Newton Rural, Gillingham Rural, Swanage Rural, Stour Valley and Shaftesbury Rural.
A Dorset Police spokesman said: “Melcombe Regis is a busy town centre which has a thriving night-time economy and tourism drawing both residents and visitors to the area.
“Therefore to compare a town centre with rural communities is flawed and wholly unfair.
“Crime rates for a town centre like Melcombe Regis should only be compared with another town centre area.
“The statistics drawn from police.uk include anti-social behaviour incidents which are not recorded as crime according to Home Office crime classification.”
The spokesman added: “Total crime has risen in Melcombe Regis. This is the same for Dorset and England as a whole and is, in part, due to a change in the way crime is now recorded.
“However, Dorset Police has recognised this increase and is committed toward tackling crime in Melcombe Regis and we will continue to work with partner agencies to achieve this using a wide range of initiative and schemes.”
POLICE have vowed to tackle problems in Weymouth town centre as part of an overall action plan to clean up Melcombe Regis.
Earlier this year a Melcombe Regis Board action team was launched, setting out a vision and priorities for improving central Weymouth which suffers from high crime, poor housing an ill health.
It is made up of the council, police and other public bodies looking to tackle inequalities across the Melcombe Regis ward. Reducing crime is one of the board’s priorities.
Weymouth Inspector Pete Browning said: “Dorset Police’s focus will be on three areas: reducing anti-social behaviour, reducing public place violent crime and tackling drug dealing and the associated problems.
“A multi-agency approach utilising expertise from the community safety partnership, housing associations and other local organisations has facilitated an appropriate balance between enforcement and support for those people involved. For example, an assertive outreach worker is now employed to identify and provide assistance to those people who regularly come to attention with some complex underlying issues.
“Where necessary arrests have been made and repeat offenders imprisoned which has ultimately made valuable steps toward a reduction in anti-social behaviour (ASB). Our plans for the future include an identified anti-social behaviour champion within neighbourhood policing leadership and work to tackle the root causes of ASB, using learning from similar projects such as the regeneration work in Boscombe.
“To tackle public place violent crime linked to the night time economy, Dorset Police is part of a multi-agency night time economy group and supports local schemes. Successful initiatives already include Best Bar None, Street Pastors, Pub Watch and the RU2Drunk initiative designed by the University of Exeter.”
He added that drugs networks are being targeted and police is working to ensure vulnerable people are protected.
A WEYMOUTH councillor has called for more of a police presence on the ground to sort the problem of crime and anti-social behaviour in Weymouth town centre.
Cllr Francis Drake, who represents the Melcombe Regis ward and is also the briefholder for community safety has long campaigned for more police in Weymouth.
However, he did say that it was good to see that people are reporting incidents in the town to the police.
He said: “The public have got confidence in the police, which is what we want to see.
“We need three PCSOs (police community support officers) in the town regularly.
“We have high figures but that means the people in this area are doing their job and reporting the crime when they see it. We have got a crime problem in this area but residents are phoning it in.”
He encouraged people to continue reporting crime but said some people just don’t want to use the internet for this.
He said: “If you see something in the street call 999 and phone it in.
“The police say people can go online, people don’t want to go online, people want to be able to see the police and talk to them.
“People still have a problem getting through on 101, they need to see the police on the ground all the time.”
NUMBER OF REPORTS
1) Melcombe Regis ...........2,425
2) Westham ....................1,008
3) Portland ......................996
4) Dorchester North .........762
5) Dorchester South .........625
6) Sherborne Rural ...........582
7) Radipole ......................519
8) Swanage Town .............504
9) Wyke Regis ..................485
10) Wareham West ...........453
11) Bridport Rural East .......452
12) Chickerell ....................435
13) Sherborne Town ...........418
14) Bridport Town ..............416
15) Dorchester West ...........404
16) Shaftesbury Town .........401
17) Gillingham Town............394
18) Wareham Town ............334
19) Dorchester East ............333
20) Blandford Town .............328
21) Lytchett M & Upton ........326
22) Weymouth East .............326
23) Beaminster Rural............326
24) Wareham North..............322
25) Blandford Rural South ....312
26) Littlemoor ....................310
27) Blandford Old Town .......268
28) Blandford Rural North ....244
29) Lyme Regis ..................229
30) Marshwood Vale ...........216
31) Shaftesbury Rural ........203
32) Stour Valey .................199
33) Swanage Rural ............149
34) Gillingham Rural ..........148
35) Stour Valey ................137
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