Riots and Pride intensify pressure on police: Worthing town meeting

Sergeant Craig Burgess reported that summer was traditionally the force’s busiest season with calls up considerably but, though demand on its services remains heavy, this is starting to relent. The riots associated with the Far Right meant that every force nationwide had to provide Police Support Units (whose members have undergone specialist tactical training in public order and riot control) to be deployed as required, and this meant that many Police staff were diverted from routine tasks.

In addition, Brighton Pride is getting bigger every year and now takes place over four days, further impacting Police resources, as also does Glorious Goodwood.

As has already been well documented, prisoners are being released early due to the lack of room within the prison system, which has left the Police feeling very frustrated, especially when it comes to the release of prolific offenders, whose incarceration does at least provide their victims some respite from their depredations. Many of these criminals now feel that they can offend with impunity, but this is a situation that has been in the making for at least a quarter of a century and only time will tell what the impact will be.

Dealing with domestic violence accounts for up to 30% of Police time and the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that 2.1 million people aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2023.

With a population of over 111,000, Worthing has about 2,000 known drug addicts, which is not considered unusual for a town of this size. There is not much cuckooing, but drug gangs are increasingly using young children to sell their drugs; if found by the Police in possession of a large supply of drugs, this puts them at acute danger of reprisals by the gang organisers, so meanwhile the onus is on the Police to ensure that they are kept safe.