YOU cannot underestimate how much it affects people when they become victims of crime. Especially when they are victims of violent crime.
Over the past week the Southport Visiter has received phone calls from people who have been attacked in Southport town centre, with some similar themes beginning to emerge.
Mostly, the attacks have been carried out by teenagers, in many cases by females, and in all cases they have attacked in larger numbers, and preyed on those they have perceived to be vulnerable targets.
In every case, of course, those who carried out the attacks were cowards – they must be caught, sooner rather than later, and must be punished.
Here is where we feel great sympathy for the police. In many areas, officers in Southport and across Merseyside are recording fantastic results when it comes to crime. Recent figures show that prolific and priority offenders are being taken off the streets, violent incidents are down, burglaries are down, drug dealers have been hit hard.
Much of this is down to intelligence-led policing – officers identify crime hotspots, prolific individuals and crime trends and dedicate resources to tackling them. However, they cannot do this alone.
A number of people who contacted us had not reported the crimes against them because they were too afraid.
This is a great shame. The police must be hugely frustrated at not having the information or the witnesses needed to go out and either catch those responsible directly, or focus resources on problem areas.
And if they are not empowered to catch the thugs in our town – then those thugs will be free, and emboldened, to strike again.
If any of our readers feel they can help catch the young yobs making life a misery for the unfortunate few who fall victim to them, please give the police whatever help you can.
Contact Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111.
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