Community wardens have been pounding the pavements to help make Littlehampton safer

The Littlehampton community warden project will be discussed during Arun District Council’s housing and wellbeing committee meeting on Monday (24 Jan).

The pilot, which started in April last year, sees three community wardens take to the streets of Littlehampton.

The wardens work with residents and Sussex Police to improve safety and reduce crime by building relationships and carrying out enforcement.

A progress report shows that the wardens spent more than 1,300 hours on patrol between April and October.

In this time, they submitted 43 police reports, found 22 incidents of anti-social behaviour, and held 30 community events and drop in surgeries.

“Foot patrols are a vital component of the Community Warden’s role,” says the report, “The large number of additional ‘feet on the ground’ hours has helped to identify and deal with problematic behaviour at an early stage, but their physical presence also aims to provide reassurance to residents and businesses.”

This was demonstrated by the ‘numerous drug related incidents’ attended by the wardens who are said to have ‘undoubtedly saved a life’ when they intervened in a suspected drug overdose.

Community wardens also identify ‘anti-social behaviour hotspots’ and carry out engagement work with young people.

Sussex Police awarded them with Community Safety Accreditation Scheme

(CSAS) status which gives the wardens ‘low-level’ enforcement powers.

In addition to street patrols, the wardens hold monthly ‘drop-in’ sessions for members of the public.

During these events they provide advice and listen to any concerns.

Current funding for the project runs until October 2022 and comes from Littlehampton Town Council, the Safer Arun Partnership, and ADC.

In March, a full review of the project will take place to see if key objectives have been met and to determine the future of the scheme.