Crime and community safety are key concerns for communities, even in low crime areas, such as the High Peak.
It affects many people in a variety of ways, be it fear of crime, experiencing nuisance or being a victim of crime. A safe community is central to the quality of life and contributes to the High Peak being a place where people want to live, work and visit.
The complex issues of crime and community safety can only be tackled when agencies, organisations, businesses and communities work together in partnership.
Since 1998, High Peak Borough Council has been a leading partner on the High Peak Community Safety Partnership. The High Peak community safety partnership sets priorities, manages resources and monitors the activity of the partnership.
The Community Safety Team, pictured left, undertakes the day-to-day work of the partnership. The team is based at Buxton Town Hall, and includes a Community Protection Officer and a Police Sergeant seconded to the department.
High Peak Community Safety Partnership has recently produced its 2008-2011 Partnership Plan (391KB) which includes action plans to tackle anti-social behaviour, violence and acquisitive crime (which includes vehicle crime and burglary).
Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNTs) provide communities with a dedicated team of officers who are visible, accessible and known to local people. They work closely with partner agencies (statutory and voluntary) and the local community to tackle the crime and disorder concerns and issues identified within the neighbourhood.
You can get involved by attending your local Safer Neighbourhood Team meetings. (External website**)
Kidscape helps keep children safe. They offer free leaflets and booklets about safety, bullying, teenagers and other issues. To help protect your children please visit the Kidscape website (External website**)
The Ok? project provides personal safety advice, drug and alcohol information, bullying, and abuse support for children and young adults.
You can take part in a survey with a cash prize, play games and send messages to friends. Some features require you to register.
Visit the OK? website (External website**)
A dispersal order enables the police to disperse groups of two or more people where the officer has reasonable grounds for believing that their presence or behaviour has resulted, or is likely to result, in a member of the public being harassed, intimidated, alarmed or distressed. Once asked to disperse, it will be a criminal offence for that person to return to the dispersal area for a 24-hour period.
If a young person under the age of 16 is stopped in the area after 9pm and is not accompanied by an adult, the police can escort them to their home address, if they are either:
The High Peak has four alcohol exclusion zones where it is illegal to drink alcohol outside of licensed premises. These are Gamesley, Glossop, New Mills and Buxton. The police can impose fines on anyone caught drinking in public. A recent evaluation of the New Mills order found that it greatly contributed to reducing the number of assaults and public order offences.
| Alcohol Exclusion Zone |
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The Home Office has a 'Justice Seen, Justice Done' website (External website**) that provides the public with local information about the criminal justice system.
By entering your postcode you can get information about different aspects of the CJS, including:
The Home Office has recently published the crime statistics for England and Wales 2011/12.
In the High Peak, overall recorded crime has gone down by 14% (750 Crimes) - giving the High Peak a rate of 11.8 crimes per 1000 people. Criminal Damage has reduced by 341 crimes (26%) when comparing this financial year with the one previous.
Domestic Burglary has reduced by 12% (33 Crimes) across the High Peak.
Assault with less serious injury has been reduced by 18% (125 crimes) in the High Peak.
101 is the number to call when you want to contact your local police - when it’s less urgent than a 999 call. 101 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The 101 number is being rolled out across England and Wales during 2011 from July and is now active in Derbyshire. The 0345 123 33 33 is still available for around 2 years.
You should call 101 to report less urgent crime and disorder or to speak to your local officers. For example, you should call 101 if:
Or to:
101 is being introduced as part of the government's wider work to improve access to the police, ease pressure on 999, and help to efficiently and effectively tackle crime and disorder.
You should continue to call 999 when it is an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, when there is danger to life or when violence is being used or threatened.
Calls to 101 (from both landlines and mobile networks) cost 15 pence per call, no matter what time of day you call, or how long you are on the phone. Everyone calling the police for non-emergency matters will now know exactly how much a call will cost them, and can be assured of equal access whether they are on a pay-as-you-go mobile or a home landline.
Calls to 101 are answered by police call handlers in the control room of the local police force. This ensures that staff with local knowledge can answer and deal with the calls and respond appropriately. You will not be put through to a large national call centre.
When you call 101, the system will determine your location and connect you to the police force covering that area. You will hear a recorded message announcing the police force you are being connected to. If you are on a boundary between two or more forces, the recorded message will give you a choice of which force to be connected to.
Yes, you can textphone 18001 101.
Your local police have access to professional interpreters so they can quickly translate your call if you have difficulty speaking English.
You should continue to call your local council for things like:
As 101 is a new number, some business phone systems and switchboards may not yet be programmed to recognise 101. Please contact the person who administers your phone system to request that access is opened to the 101 number.
For more information on how to contact your local council please visit www.direct.gov.uk
As money gets tight, more and more people may be tempted to turn to quick fix loans from illegal money lenders.
This can quickly lead to more debt and a feeling that there's nowhere to turn - until now. Derbyshire County Council's trading standards team is working closely with East Midlands illegal money lending unit the Public Protection Project Team to crack down on loan sharks who prey on vulnerable people. The team works with voluntary groups such as Victim Support, Citizens Advice and Credit Unions to provide support to victims of loan sharks. It also enforces the law by making arrests and putting loan sharks in prison.
If you have been stung by a loan shark and want to report your concerns, or you'd like advice and information you can call the Public Protection Project Team's confidential helpline 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 01332 644 000.
On 26 January 2009, cannabis was reclassified up from a Class C to a Class B drug. To find out why cannabis has been reclassified and how the new cannabis laws will be enforced please click on the link below.
www.talktofrank.com (External website**)
** Please note: High Peak Borough Council is not responsible for the content of any external websites.