Anti-social behaviour rate drops in one of Sussex’s biggest towns by almost 15 per cent

Along with reports of anti-social behaviour decreasing, Sussex Police have also seen a reduction in reports of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls within the town.

With Sussex Police recruiting an additional 192 police officers in 22/23 helping to improve the local visible neighbourhood response, Crawley has also seen solved rates of business and community burglary crimes nearly double in comparison to last year.

Much of the work that’s been carried out to reduce anti-social behaviour within the district, has been organised by The Safer Crawley Partnership who received a grant of over £50,000 from Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne’s Community Safety Fund – the greatest amount of any community safety funding awarded to a local authority in West Sussex.

Protecting funding to Community Safety Partnerships has been a top priority for PCC Bourne with a total of over £1.2m being distributed to local authorities across the county.

The Safer Crawley Partnership have used the funding to address crime, investing in youth diversionary projects, including AudioActive, who provide local young people with the chance to access and create music. They have also been able to fund Crawley Open House, a hostel and day centre for vulnerable people who are experiencing homelessness and may be more exposed to crime.

Recent successes from Sussex Police in the area have resulted in a large cannabis factory being shut down. Through gained intelligence, shared information and effective working between specialist units, burglars, those committing knife-crime and predators of children, have also been arrested and charged in Crawley.

With the percentage of households who have dependent children rising in Crawley, ensuring children and young people have the opportunity to attend activity groups and education schemes to keep them safe has been a focus of PCC Bourne’s Safer In Sussex Community Fund (SISCF).

Since 2015, nearly £150,000 has been awarded via SISCF to local community groups in Crawley to tackle and improve community safety issues. These include: Wicketz; Bewbush Boxing Club; and West Sussex Angling Academy.

Monies from the fund have also gone towards groups with a focus on supporting the elderly, including Contact The Elderly Projects, as well as support for the Tamil Learning Centre and Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch.

PCC Katy Bourne has also recently invested £25,000 into Brighton & Hove Albion Community Foundation, in a match-funded scheme with the Premier League. This money will deliver their KICKS Programme in anti-social behaviour ‘hotspot’ areas within Crawley.

The programme takes referrals from Sussex Police and targets young people who are recognised to be habitual knife carriers.

To help continue to drive-down crime in Crawley, PCC Katy Bourne has used her most recent round of government ‘Safer Streets’ funding to pay for targeted patrols in the district, including dedicated drone operators.

With £1.5m of Safer Streets funding secured in the previous round, some of this has also gone towards installing additional CCTV and lighting in Crawley and the town has also benefited from a taxi marshal scheme, street pastor scheme and provision of training for individuals working in the night-time economy to help keep people safe.

Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said: “Crawley is one of our county’s biggest and most diverse towns. With direct links to the capital, thousands of people live, work in, visit and pass through Crawley every day.

“I know from speaking with local residents that anti-social behaviour causes grief to the community so I am glad to see levels of this crime reduce thanks to the hard work of Sussex Police and partners.

“We know there is always more we can do to make our towns safer. This is why, in my tenure as PCC, I have not reduced the amount of funding provided to Community Safety Partnerships because I believe in empowering them to invest money wisely in initiatives that will have the greatest positive impact on their residents.

“Diversionary and preventative measures are crucial, particularly for young people, in guiding them on to the right paths. My Safer In Sussex Community Fund has supported dozens of projects across Crawley, helping children and young people who are most vulnerable to crime. Financial support has also been directed to groups focusing on fraud prevention for the elderly and creating opportunities for ethnic minorities.”

“Funding from the Safer Streets 4 fund has helped to improve the environment with additional CCTV and lighting as well as supporting additional roles within Crawley’s Night Marshals, Taxi Marshals and Street Pastors, who are helping people to keep safe in Crawley’s night-time economy.”