MP Alan Campbell column: Keeping communities safe must be a priority

Parents worry about their children playing in the park or being targeted online.

Pensioners worry about being scammed or robbed in the street and small businesses worry about theft and vandalism.

And when things go wrong, too often it seems that nothing much is done and there are no consequences for law breakers.

After 13 years there are fewer police officers, fewer prosecutions and more criminals are literally getting away with it. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Protecting communities and preventing crime needs more police officers and PCSOs in local neighbourhoods and last week Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced Labour would put 13,000 more officers on our streets, paid for by saving money in procurement.

We also need to see more action to stop young people being drawn into crime and a criminal justice system which puts victims at its heart.

Tackling crime in a sustained way has always depended upon authorities working together, particularly police and local authorities using all the means and resources at their disposal.

Partnership working is the key to effectively tackling crime.

As Nexus confirmed, taking action can make a difference. Extra police patrols, upgraded CCTV and increased penalties has reduced antisocial behaviour on the Metro by half.

But more still needs to be done to make sure that as a new visitor season approaches, we can keep all our communities safe and we can all enjoy our regenerated coast.