On Friday I met up with Cllr Margaret Smidowicz, the excellent councillor for Nanpantan on Charnwood Council. We had an interesting chat about local issues, and particularly about crime and policing. Margaret told me that burglary and vehicle crime were her main worries, along with parking and speeding. The official crime figures for the area bear this out. For the year to August 2019 there were 148 burglaries and 236 vehicle crimes. Margaret told me that over the past few weeks the police have been much more visible in her area, and that this is helping to deter crime. That shows that the presence of police in areas with crime problems can be an effective crime reduction measure. And when a resident knows a familiar police face and badge number they are more comfortable with expressing concern or providing information.
