£430,000 is to be invested in high-tech efforts to prevent crime, put off criminals and protect homeowners in more of North Yorkshire’s border communities as part of the Safer Streets Fund.
North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has been awarded £429,986 from the Home Office.
40 areas across England and Wales have today been awarded a total of £18.3 million to make our streets safer through projects to crack down on neighbourhood crimes like burglary, vehicle theft and robbery.
The third round of the Safer Streets Fund also opens today, providing another opportunity to bid from a fund of £25 million for the year 2021/22.
In North Yorkshire, the £429,986 will be used to protect individual homes and farms in parts of Selby close to the border with West, South and East Yorkshire, and also includes a focus on using ANPR cameras to deter and detect potential burglars.
The areas covered will be Carlton, Camblesforth, Hirst Courtney, Birkin and Hillam with around 1,600 households and 50 farms and small holdings eligible to receive the targeted support already offered to other parts of Selby.
Measures to prevent and protect will include free security advice; upgrades to vulnerable doors, windows, garages and sheds, and monitored alarm systems for farms and small holdings to protect those most at risk.
Additionally, there will be measures to protect these areas, and those across the county, through investment in mobile ANPR cameras to enable North Yorkshire Police to identify potential offenders.
Major roads, such as the A19, A1(M) and M62, all provide easy access for criminals crossing county boundaries. It is thought to be one of the key reasons 1 in 4 crimes in parts of Selby are burglaries, compared to 1 in 10 across the rest of North Yorkshire.
Evidence shows the use of cameras which can automatically detect and alert police to suspects travelling into the area can reduce burglaries by as much as 40 per cent. ANPR will be supported by a major proactive, coordinated and intelligence-led rural borderlands operation from North Yorkshire Police.
North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Philip Allott said:
Burglary is a crime that has a huge impact on individuals, families and farms which is why this investment in making even more of our streets even safer is so important. Our innovative approach, which has already protected hundreds of households in parts of Selby, will now be expanded to more communities at increased risk of criminals crossing borders to commit offences.
As an advocate of increased ANPR to protect North Yorkshire’s borders from a minority of people travelling from West Yorkshire to commit criminal acts, I am delighted that the Home Office is supporting my campaign to protect the more challenging areas.
The use of these cameras is particularly important given the impact they have spotting potential burglars before they can commit an offence. This will help protect not just the areas directly being supported by this Safer Streets Fund but more parts of North Yorkshire.
It will be backed up with an increased focus on borderlands policing in rural communities so that we are doing all we can to keep people safe and feeling safe wherever they are in North Yorkshire.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said:
I will not stand by while criminals inflict fear and misery on our communities, which is why I launched the Safer Streets Fund to improve security in areas blighted by crimes like burglary, robbery and theft.
But it’s more than just environmental change – we need to prevent people from committing these offences in the first place as we build back safer.
That is why the next round will rightly look at behaviour change, with a primary focus on women and girls who are disproportionately affected by crimes like harassment in public places.
