Synopsis

Prevention through education. We believe that by educating the community and preventing crime from taking place, we can ensure that Southampton is a safe space for the community. We firmly believe that victims are never to blame for the occurrence of an offence. All victims including vulnerable groups such as abuse victims and young people as well as minorities such as LGBT victims require individualised support. Neighbourhood policing is key to a safe community as are third sector support services. Being ‘tough’ is simply not enough.

Policy

 

Our vision is of a community that is kept safe not only by increases in policing, but a wider range of holistic policies that target the sources of crime. Increasing levels of poverty and cuts to public services, including the police force itself, as well as youth services and Sure Start centres, have created the conditions in which crime rates are likely to increase. In these circumstances, simply 'being tough on crime' is unlikely to have any significant impact.

 

The number one priority is to keep communities safe and prevent crime from taking place in the first place. Our policies on improving housing and revitalising the local economy will contribute to reducing crime rates, but we also have a number of policies that specifically aim to create a safer community in Southampton.

 

 

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that young people are any more likely to engage in criminal activity or anti­social behaviour than any other section of society. Young people are vulnerable and are often forgotten about as the victims of crime. Our aim is to both protect the freedom and improve the safety of young people across the city by liaising with colleges and universities, discouraging the use of dispersal orders or anti-social behaviour orders and protecting services for young people such as youth centres.

Policing in Southampton should be proportional, and aim to deliver justice for both offenders and victims. We need to strike a balance between policing being visible, but not intrusive. We recognise that stop­ and ­search powers have their place in policing, but that they must not be used excessively.

We will:

• Campaign for a greater proportion of police budgets to be spent on the development of neighbourhood policing to ensure a closer relationship between the police and the communities and businesses they serve.
• Liaise with police to run educational campaigns about preventing crime. For example, we will run educational campaigns for vulnerable residents on fraudulent salespeople.
• Ensure school children are educated in avoiding dangers, including road and railway safety, the effects of drugs and alcohol, and the risks of carrying weapons.
• Aim to reduce the continued prevalence of cycle theft through the provision of secure places to lock bicycles at shops, workplaces and railway stations.
• Liaise with the universities and the student unions, to tackle issues of student safety and to ascertain areas of concern for young people.
• Aim to reduce the prevalence of alcohol-fuelled disorder by enforcing the terms of the licences under which pubs and clubs operate.
• Protect the rights of young people, including the right to gather in public places.
• Oppose the use of orders such as dispersal orders and anti-social behaviour orders.
• Protect services for young people such as youth centres.
• Monitor the use of stop-and-search powers, and raise the issue with the Chief Constable where we feel that their use has been disproportionate.
• Protect the funding of domestic abuse advisors and LGBT liaison officers.
• Protect, and where possible, increase funding for services for victims of sexual abuse.
• Ensure that the right to protest is protected and facilitated by the police.