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Neighbourhood Policing

Oxford city currently has 48 community support officers—a number that will go up to 59 from this summer. Ten are part-funded by the city council and four by the university of Oxford. It is a pity that, after the police authority announced the expansion in numbers, the Liberal Democrat-controlled city council saw it as an opportunity to cut plans to expand further the city's contribution, even though it would have attracted additional match funding. I warmly welcome the expansion, and I know that my constituents do, too. The bottom line is that all those measures are making a real impact on fighting crime. In the three priority Oxford areas where neighbourhood policing operates—Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill and Barton—there has been a measurable reduction both in all crime and in key categories. For example, if we compare April to December last year with the same period the year before, violence against the person was down 16, 13 and 18 per cent. in the three areas respectively. Coupled with the work of the Oxford safer communities partnership, neighbourhood policing is contributing to a significant fall in crime throughout our city and, moreover, in the crimes that people fear most.