City crime debate at Galleries of Justice

ONE of Notts most senior police officers told a debate last night that residents have a disproportionate fear of crime.

LISTEN to the debate by clicking here

Deputy Chief Constable Howard Roberts was speaking at a Nottingham Speaker's Corner event to promote discussion about crime.

Though Notts has the second highest crime rate of all police force areas in the country, Mr Roberts told an audience of more than 60 people at the Galleries of Justice that the crime rate here has fallen for six years in a row.

He said: "I think we disproportionately fear crime and I think the media is a factor in leading to that."

The high profile debate panel also included city council leader Coun Jon Collins, Home Office minister and Gedling MP Vernon Coaker and Nottingham judge Andrew Hamilton.

Coun Collins said: "We are making progress but there is a long way to go. Fear of crime is falling in Nottingham but there is a lag."

The Post came in for criticism from some speakers. One resident from Bestwood Estate claimed too many crime stories appeared on the front page. "Bad news sells papers," he said.

But Post editor Malcolm Pheby, who attended the debate, said: "It is easy to shoot the messenger."

He said the paper had to report what was going on in Nottingham. "What sells newspapers in the long term is reporting what is right about the community. The key is setting the balance," he said.

Some speakers questioned whether the popular perception that crime is commonplace in Nottingham now, compared to previous decades, was correct.

Jackie Morris, a community activist from Bulwell, said there is less violence today but some behaviour that is now recorded as a crime would have been previously ignored.

She said: "Years ago, in the area where I live, if there weren't half a dozen fights on a Saturday you would say it was quiet.

"Today, if you are not in a circle that commits crime, you don't get touched by it."

But John Greensmith, step-father of innocent teenager Jason Spencer, who was stabbed to death in Sherwood in 2007, disagreed.

He said: "Even if you live in an area of low crime, you have to be aware of people who come into your area who are into crime."

The debate also considered youth crime.

Vernon Coaker was applauded for his defence of local youth.

He said: "Politicians must say more loudly that the vast majority of kids are law-abiding. We must stop seeing every group of young people as a gang. It is a challenge to society. Don't keep demonising our kids because they don't deserve it."

There was a plea from some for better facilities for young people that opened at a time to suit them.

George Todd, a resident on the Broxtowe Estate, said a club he set up now regularly attracts 300 young people.

He said: "People on the estate say they have never known it to be so quiet. Every estate needs somewhere for young people to go."

Panel member Larry Waller, who manages youth inclusion programmes across the city, said young people were often consulted about facilities and services.

"The problem is their views are not heard or acted on. We have to try to deliver what young people want," he said.

Others warned that low levels of educational attainment restricted young people's access to employment and left them susceptible to crime.

And the level of crime may be about to rise with the impact of the economic downturn, according to Roger Hopkins Burke, a criminologist at Nottingham Trent University.

He said: "I think in the next few years things could be seriously problematic."

charles.walker@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk