Street cleaners urged to fight crime

Street cleaners and other street workers have been urged to help fight crime by becoming the eyes and ears of a community.

A report by the Audit Commission said that street workers employed by councils to observe low-level criminal activity in a community would not place an extra burden on them or the police.

The report suggested that low-level crime - such as graffiti, abandoned cars and noisy neighbours - were often factors which influenced how safe people felt in the area they lived.

The Audit Commission said that many people believed that crime was rising, even though national statistics show that crime has been falling for the last 11 years.

However, the report said that the figures did not take into account pockets of low-level disorder and anti-social behaviour.

The report said that councils and police forces were not fully exploiting their combined intelligence or the knowledge, skills and resources of frontline workers like housing managers, police community support officers and neighbourhood wardens to identify, analyse and respond to local issues.

Zoe Billingham, director of community, safety and environment at the Audit Commission, said that reducing crime was "absolutely crucial" to making neighbourhoods better places to live.

She also said that local street workers were also perfectly placed to observe what was happening in neighbourhoods.

Sir Michael Lyons, acting chairman of the Audit Commission, said: "Crime has been falling since 1995, but what is being measured does not always match the experience of people when they walk down their own street. Local partnerships must focus on neighbourhood areas and work better together to collect, collate and evaluate data more effectively to ensure money is being spent where it is most needed.

"In addition, they must empower frontline workers to identify and address particular issues and they must talk to and work with their residents to build confidence that action is leading to results."

(KMcA)