Crime is down in Peacehaven

Peacehaven saw a wave of antisocial behaviour and violent offences following the closure of its police station in September 2016, leaving residents scared to go out at night.

The Argus reported the stories of many of those people, who believed the rise in crime was down to a lack of police presence.

After our campaigning, Sussex Police responded with Operation Blitz in September – a crackdown on antisocial behaviour, with patrols on Friday and Saturday nights.

Crime map data shows in the six months prior, there were 661 crimes committed in Peacehaven East and Peacehaven West and North – the two policing areas of the town.

However, in the six months after Operation Blitz was announced, total crime fell by 138 to 523 for the entire area – a slide of about 21 per cent.

We started reporting the problems in Peacehaven when Derek Bishop, a 63-year-old grandfather, was attacked by yobs while walking home with his wife, Alison, in Ambleside Avenue.

They mocked his 4ft 10in figure before punching him in the head and fracturing his jaw. Alison said she “thought he was dead”.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, MP for Brighton Kemptown, fought for officers to be back on the streets – and insists this is the reason crime has dropped. He told The Argus: “Doesn’t it show what can happen when police focus their attention on what they are meant to be doing?

“The danger is they pay some attention to Peacehaven and now there is a surge in antisocial behaviour in St James’s Street in Kemp Town.

“Things like Operation Blitz need to be operations everywhere.

“It does show that when the public, The Argus and the MPs shout loud enough, things get done.”

Other crime issues we highlighted were the problems at the Meridian Centre, where youths were running riot and terrifying shoppers. Windows were smashed at the centre, and in June thieves raided the Martlets charity shop in South Coast Road.

Last July, reported crime was up 17 per cent year on year, while antisocial behaviour rocketed by 57 per cent.

Mr Russell-Moyle met with Katy Bourne, Sussex’s police and crime commissioner, to discuss ways of tackling the policing issue.

And the Labour MP had some words for the force’s boss.

He said: “Of course this reinforces the argument that having a police presence stops crime. We all know that.

“People say you solve crime by having bobbies on a desk – quite right – but you stop crimes happening by having bobbies on the beat.

“Unfortunately, Katy Bourne lost her way trying to solve crimes rather than preventing them.”

In August, three arson attacks on the same house happened in the space of a week.

Yobs were spotted pelting cars with stones from the roof of an estate agents in South Coast Road, leaving the onlooking resident shocked and unable to sleep at night.

He tried to phone police multiple times but no officers turned up. We spoke to him again to see how he felt about the crime figures falling.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I hope the police keep it up. Peacehaven is worth rescuing.

“I was terrified by the crime last summer. I couldn’t sleep some nights. Every time I heard a car go past I thought I could hear stones smashing against them.

“Peacehaven is a different place now. Everyone pulled together.”

Ted Giles, 75, of Cairo Avenue in Peacehaven, added: “We are always concerned about crime. I’m very pleased it’s going down.”

Following the success of Operation Blitz, more officers will be on the streets, according to police.

Inspector Simon Burroughs, of the Lewes district prevention team, said: “Additional officers will be joining local prevention teams across Sussex to increase visibility and accessibility, encourage people to talk and share their knowledge of their neighbourhood, and prevent and solve local community issues such as antisocial behaviour.

“This will enable a wider spread of local prevention resources and a greater capacity to work with communities and partners to address local concerns.”

The force has been working closely with security staff at the Meridian Centre, Peacehaven Town Council and other authorities to tackle the crime wave.

The latest crime map data goes back to March. There has been a drop of 25 crimes compared to March 2017, when 120 were reported.

Insp Burroughs said: “Since last summer we have seen a decrease in reports of antisocial behaviour in the Peacehaven area. We are working closely with the town council, security at the Meridian Centre, Neighbourhood First and Youth Outreach to identify the times and locations incidents are most likely to occur, with the aim of preventing and reducing repeated incidents.

“This partnership working includes the use of the yellow phone to report incidents, the introduction of a police office within the council building, improving CCTV in the area and supporting banning notices served by security.

“Following analysis, we are still seeing seasonal fluctuations, and a particular problem in the area has always been the irresponsible use of off-road motorcycles in Telscombe Tye and local parks.

“Our local prevention teams are working with our roads policing unit officers to tackle this problem. We encourage members of the public to report incidents of antisocial riding via Operation Crackdown or 101 or report it online.”

A spokesman for the town council said: “We are pleased to see reported crime and antisocial behaviour has dramatically reduced.”