Tinsley Sheffield 9 S.Y.Police Authority

Tinsley Residents Panel Meeting 14 March 2005

Meeting held at Attercliffe Police Station at 7pm.

At the meeting was Inspector Tony Dobson, Dr Choudry Walayat, other South Yorkshire Police Authority Figures and seven Tinsley residents from different parts of the community. We were asked as in the Survey:

1. What do you perceive as the biggest problems in Tinsley ?
2. What are your feelings of safety in Tinsley, do you go out at night ?
3. Are crimes under reported and why ?
4. How worried are you of racial attack?

1. Graffitti, Litter & Vandalism was reported to be the biggest problem in Tinsley. Litter is a constant problem in the shopping centre car parks where taxi drivers discard waste out of their windows and drive away, and is echoed outside St. Lawrence Church. The telephone box on Bawtry Road and Infield Avenue in vandalized often with glass being smashed only days after it has been replaced.

It seems drugs are perceived to be a big problem in Tinsley, some residents have been exposed to crime and intimidation from users and burgled to supply their habit. This problem is a National one and not confined to our community. The Police are constantly active in the area with seizures occuring as information is presented. Most residents said they would not walk alone at night in Tinsley.

2. Cars driven at speed have been a worry for residents for many years. Local people have telephoned time and time again to inform the police of this activity but not much action is seen to have taken place. The response is that preventative measures have been introduced where car rental companies have been warned about potential drivers using their cars. When a hire car is reported in the area the Rental company is informed and takes necessary action in that the car is reclaimed or the driver looses the deposit if the vehicle has been spotted being driven unsafely. Twenty untaxed cars were removed from the streets of Tinsley last year.

Groups of youths shouting obscenities at passers by are another annoying aspect of daily life in Tinsley. A section 30 or dispersal order was put in place in November 2004 which was a great success and great credit must go to the S.Y.POLICE and the children it affected for their continued co-operation.

3. The fear of resprisals was the most common answer for why is crime under reported. Incidents have occured in Tinsley were vulnerable residents have been intimidated into keeping quiet about crimes being carried out against them. Another answer to under reporting was that the residents had no confidence that the information given would be acted upon. It seems that when a resident makes a call little or no response is encountered. This is the same for on going problems in that resients are not kept up to date with what action is being taken.

4. Most residents at the meeting said that they were worried about being attacked because of there race or religion. although intimidation does occur the actual incidents are very rare.

Conclusion - It was standard work for the professionals present who saw the problems as the same as many other towns in England. The way forward is to converge a multi agency approach which includes the S.Y.P. The Council, Area Panels and other agencies. Feedback is required to make sure the information passed to the police is shown to be used in a positive way and to show that the public have not wasted there time is presenting the information.

Crimestoppers have been a successful source of information and have led to many local success stories.

Tinsley Residents Survey

Dear Resident,

In November 2004 Tinsley residents were invited to respond to a survey about crime anti-social behaviour and policing. The questions were based on police talk - a force wide survey - other similar resident surveys eg. Greenland, Lower Manor, Parsons Cross etc. all of which are undertaken jointly by South yorkshire Police (S.Y.P.) and South Yorkshire Police Authority (S.Y.P.A.).

The objectives of this newsletter are to report the key finding from the Tinsley residents survey, how they compare with those - for the force and Sheffield central policing district from the police talk and from the Greenland ( An area close by ) Residents survey.

Give S.Y.P. and S.Y.P.A. an opportunity to respond to results.

"Hello my name is Dr Choudry Walayat. I am an independant member of South Yorkshire Police authority and a link member to Sheffield Central Policing District covering Tinsley. A very important part of my role is to ensure that we capture the communities views in order to inform local policing priorities. I have asked Inspector Tony Dobson, the officer responsible for community safety in Tinsley, to respond to the results."

Inspector Tony Dobson says: " S.Y.P. asked SYPA to undertake this survey. The objective was to find out what most concerns local people. I am delighted that more than 300 of you were prepared to complete the survey. The police will make every effort to make life better for people in tinsley. I sincerely thank those of you who are prepared to benefit the community by working with us for the benefit of an improved future. I look forward to meeting some of you in the focus group in the near future. In the meantime, I have included in this newsletter my initial responses to the results. Thank you."

1. From the following list of crime and anti-social behaviour problems, which do you believe are the biggest in the neighbourhood ?

People said the problems were graffiti, litter and vandalism (GLV - 74%), roudy young people ( RYP - 60%) and drugs (57%). The next biggest problem was burglary, but only by 22%.
GLV appears to be a bigger problem by Tinsley residents than those in the rest of Sheffield Central policing district including Greenland.

2. How do you rate the levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in your neighbourhood at present ?

76% and 61% respectively of tinsley responants rate crime and anti-social behaviour as high.
The figures for Tinsley are lower than the equivalent ones for Greenland.

3. What changes do you think have occured in the levels of crime and antisocial behaviour in your neighbourhood over the past twelve months ?

31% of Tinsley respondants crime and anti-social behaviour have increased over the past twelve months. The equivalent figure for Greenland was 56%

4. What affect do crime and anti- social behaviour have on your quality of life?

In terms of the percentages of respondents who said that crime and anti-social behaviour have a great effect on their quality of life, there is no difference between the Tinsley figure and the equivalent ones for Sheffield Central policing district including Greenland.
Additional analysis shows that in Tinsley a higher percentage of Asian Pakistani respondents than White British, however, said that crime and anti-social behaviour have a great effect on their quality of life.

5. Have crime and anti-social behaviour affected the way you live?

Only 1 in 3 respondents in Tinsley said that they go out alone at night and 7 out of 10 avoid certain areas in the neighbourhood.
Additional analysis shows that a lower percentage of Asian Pakistani respondents than White British have installed security equipment in their home.

6. How worried are you about.....

Comparing the Tinsley results with those from Greenland highlights that a lower percentage of respondents are worried about being robbed (mugged).
However, 50% of respondents in Tinsley are worried about being attacked because of their skin colour, ethnicity or religion.

7. How safe do you feel in each of the following situations?

Up to and over 80% of respondents feel safe in their home in the day and at night, and in their neighbourhood in the day, but only 43% said that they feel safe in their neighbourhood at night.

Inspector dobson responds: It is sad that so few people feel safe in their own neighbour. The reality is that there are very few crimes against the person in Tinsley, but clearly there is a high perception of risk of being a victim of crime.

8. Have there been any crime and anti-social behaviour problems in the last 12 months that you did not report?

38% of respondents had not reported a problem they had either experienced or witnessed in the last 12 months. This is higher than the equivalent figure for Sheffield Central policing district.

Inspector dobson replies: I am aware of the reluctance to report incidents, and this has not been helped by difficulties with our call handling systems. These issues are now largely resolved and i hope that in the future people will be more ready to report incidents.

9. What was the nature of the most recent problem that you did not report?

The highest under-reported problem was RYP which is also the issue respondents believe is the area's biggest problem.

10. What was the main reason why you did not report the problem?

The fear of retribution appears to be the main reason why respondents said that they did not report a problem.

Inspector dobson replies: In a small, tight-knit community like Tinsley offenders are often known to witnesses, and vice-versa. This always presents an issue with witnesses identifying themselves. The public need to be assured that we will never identify a witness to an offender without their knowledge and consent, and that there are many ways in which witnesses are assisted and supported at all stages of the criminal justice process, for example by protecting their identity in court.

11. Do you agree that the police understand the problems of anti-social behaviour in your neighbourhood?

A higher percentage of Tinsley respondents - 64% - than those for Sheffield Central and Greenland - 51% and 56% respectively - be live that the police understand the problems in their neighbourhood.

Inspector dobson replies: Local officers are always striving to ensure they are aware of the problems faced by local people, and it is satisfying to see that this is having some success.

12. What is your perception of the level of anti-social behaviour by young people in your neighbourhood?

60% of Tinsley respondents perceive that the level of anti-social behaviour by young people is either fairly high or very high. The equivalent figure for Greenland was 74%.

13. What forms of anti-social behaviour by young people have you witnessed in the last 12 months?

Groups of young people hanging around and criminal damage appear to be common to both Tinsley and Greenland.
However, whereas off-road biking seems to be a particular problem for Greenland respondents, speeding cars is a clear issue for the Tinsley respondents.

Inspector dobson replies: The problem of speeding cars has long been an issue, but much effort has been made to tackle this, and the frequency of these incidents has reduced over the past two years.

14/15. Do you support the police having powers to return home unaccompanied under 16 years old and disperse groups of people?

There is almost universal support for the police having these powers.

Inspector dobson replies: Dispersal powers were used to good effect in Tinsley around Bonfire Night in 2004 resulting in a 64% reduction in firework offences.

16. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "There are enough facilities for young people in my neighbourhood"

1 in 2 respondents disagree that there are enough facilities for young people.

17. Do you think the availability of facilities for young people affects the level of anti-social behaviour by young people in your neighbourhood?

More than half of all respondents in Tinsley think that the availability of facilities for young people affects the level of anti-social behaviour by young people in their neghbourhood, however this is lower than the equivalent figure from Greenland.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The next stage of this process is to talk face to face with the 100 plus respondents who have indicated a willingness to participate in focus groups. We are in the process of arranging this at a time so people can come after finishing work and before it goes dark and at a venue within the area or certainly close by. Facilitated by officers of the Police Authority, the objectives of the focus groups would be to consider:

The response to graffiti, litter and vandalism
Which areas are voided, why and what can be done to increase safety there
Why half of all respondents are worried about being attacked because of their skin colour, ethnicity and religion
What if anything can be done to address the fear of retribution in terms of under-reporting

We have received excellent feedback from similar exercises:

A well chaired, organized meeting with an excellent cross section of people. Positive results for once without shouting or sidetracking.
Before the meeting i thought it would be a waste of time -paying lip service to the public - however, my view has now changed completely. I have found the meeting very informative and very constructive.

We will be writing to people shortly about this next stage. In the meantime, we hope that you find the newsletter informative and interesting, and look forward to possibly meeting some of you soon to take this work forward.