I am writing to update you all with regards to the police activity over the past 3-4 months in the Coastal Towns of Herne Bay and Whitstable, this follows on from the public meeting held at the beginning of the year after concerns were raised by residents as to the high levels of crime and ASB in the towns of Whitstable and Herne Bay. Thank you to those that attended the meeting and I know we have around 100-120 people in attendance. We were aware of the concerns and had made plans to address the issues raised.
As some of you who attended know I laid out our response to these concerns and how we were going to tackle the issues that had been raised. I thought it would be a good time to update you on the progress that we have made over the past 3-4 months.
As promised we have increased visible policing patrols in the areas at Key peak times, we moved our City Centre Pc’s out to the coast for a period of time to provide a visible presence and deterrent. We have made significant arrests of key individuals who were identified as committing a disproportionate amount of the crime and the ASB in the area. These individuals have been charged with numerous offences, with stringent bail conditions being imposed thus reducing their ability to commit crime. One in particular has now been to court and been dealt with for 26 thefts. The courts imposed a 3 month referral order, £200 compensation, £85 costs and £22 Victim Surcharge.
We have seen a reduction in the volume of ASB and crime associated with these individuals and this is reflected in the most recent crime data that we have published figures for.
From Kent Police’s published data Gorrell Ward which covers Whitstable has seen a 9% drop in reported ASB.
For Heron Ward which covers Herne Bay we have seen a 32% decrease in ASB.
The number of reported breaks to beach huts and reports of graffiti have also significant reduced. This follows the arrest of one individual after their DNA was located inside a hut. This matter remains under investigation as enquiries continue. Since then we have not seen the levels of crime that we had previously and we will continue to work with local residents and key stakeholders to address concerns raised. We will continue to work very closely with Canterbury City Council with whom we have strong links and a close working relationship.
Moving into the busier summer period we have significantly uplifted our resources to provide greater resilience and flexibility to deal with the expected rise in demand.
We have further work to do in relation to this, we will continue to work tirelessly in reducing crime and the impact that crime has on its victims. We would actively encourage feed back and if there are concerns that you would like raise please use this platform to engage with us.