Violent crime figures soar

Since February 2003 reported assaults have risen by around 20 per cent - an extra 100 incidents.

Police say they are mainly minor violent crimes and attribute much of the increase to an improvement in crime reporting rates.

They are also proud that 53 per cent of the crimes are detected and the offenders brought to justice.

Nonetheless, said Rother police's Chief Inspector Rob Carden on Wednesday, the increase does need to be taken seriously and a number of initiatives are being brought in to tackle the issue.

It was announced this week that Rother is to get another 11 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), taking the total contingent to 18. A Bar Watch scheme is about to be introduced and Rother's new anti-social behaviour officer (ASBO), Bob Perry, is settling into his job.

Ch Insp Carden added: "Most of the violent crime reports we get are low-level incidents - perhaps fights between school children or neighbours and minor assaults outside pubs.

"The Bar Watch scheme will mean anyone barred from one pub will be barred from all and sets up a communications link between landlords. Elsewhere this has been very successful in combating alcohol-related violent crimes.

"The ASBO officer will be working in the communities to target just these type of offences and the extra PCSOs are invaluable in providing a high visibility deterrent and reassurance to the public."

He said Bexhill officers have showed a marked increase in high-visibility questioning and stop-and-search type activities in recent months as a deterrent to would-be troublemakers.

Town MP Greg Barker said after a meeting with the chief inspector this week: "I am appalled by this huge leap in violent crime. We may be coming from a lower base than say Hastings, but whichever way you look at it this trend is very disturbing. Over the last seven years violent crime has surged right across Britain and this news shows that our area is no exception.

"It reinforces my strong belief that we need more police back on our streets. The good news is that the new chief inspector is every bit as appalled as I am at these figures and is determined to crack down on violent offenders.

"Other operational figures that I was shown, indicate that Rob Carden's new policy is leading to far more police checks and stops on suspicious characters, evidence that the police we do have locally are spending more time getting out and less in the station.

"But the bottom line is local performance has to improve further and you can't escape the fact that we still need more police officers in both Bexhill and rural Rother. These latest crime figures demand a tough response."