Wolverhampton - Crime City?

9.48.36am GMT Tue 21st Nov 2006

Police Officer

I am hesitant about writing this, not least because my parents entered the Internet age this weekend but also I take no pleasure in reporting the problems my home city is facing at the moment. The last few months have shown an increase in both gun and knife crime - and also a massive increase in fear of both.

Last week there was a stabbing in Fawdry Street in Whitmore Reans, not far from where I live. The week before PC Geoff King was shot just off the Penn Road in Graisley. Over the summer, to my knowledge, someone was shot on Gibbs Street in July, a stabbing took place in town in June. There has also been reports of shots or guns been seen in Sweetman Street, Tettenhall Road, Waterloo Road and Penn Road (again). This is just in my part of town, there may well be others.

Over the last month or so I have been speaking at a number of organisations, including schools, for the first time since I have been visiting various organisation in Wolverhampton (I started in about 1995) a number of people, particularly young people are saying crime and particularly gun and knife crime is the most worrying thing in Wolverhampton. This backs up the results of Robin Lawrence's Crime Survey he recently undertook in Park Ward.

In the Survey Robin asked a number of questions about the level of crime and also people's feelings and fears. Nearly half of those who responded said they have either been the victim of or witnessed a crime in the last year. A third of the victims did not report incidents to the Police. People had mixed views about whether levels of crime are rising in the area, but Nobody felt personally less at risk of crime than a year ago, with 6 out of 10 saying they felt personally more at risk of crime than one year ago.

Robin has taken up all the individual cases with the Police and other bodies such as the Council and is talking with the Police about the bigger problem. I hope to work with Robin to see if there is anything I can do. At the Liberal Democrat Conference I went to fringe meeting about knife crime and picked up a few ideas there, also Lichfield and Tamworth Liberal Democrats recently held their AGM and had a speaker from NACRO who touched on this, they have given me their contact details.