West End Funding to cut down on Burglaries

Derbyshire Police successfully applied for a grant under the Home Office's £25m Safer Streets Fund - receiving £514, 500 to roll out a new crackdown in the West End area.

The grant will fund an advanced CCTV system consisting of 12 night vision, high-powered cameras to help prevent knife-point robberies, domestic burglaries and shoplifting on key routes within the area.

The cameras will be positioned and monitored by the local Community Safety Partnership to deter offenders and provide evidence and intelligence to detect crime and support prosecution.

Further funds will be invested in the secondment of two full-time Crime Prevention Officers to deliver security improvements to the most vulnerable properties in the West End including repeat victims of burglary.

The Crime Prevention Officers will spend the next nine months within the West End area, delivering security upgrades to up to 760 properties at a cost of £66 per household. 

Meanwhile, plans are underway to upgrade street lighting in key areas within the West End to ensure pedestrians are more visible when using the public footpaths at night and launch the area's first Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

The ongoing costs of monitoring CCTV will be met by Derby City Council indefinitely which will remain a key partner in the project.

There is currently no Neighbourhood Watch scheme within the West End and it has been agreed a member of staff at Derbyshire Constabulary will work alongside Derbyshire Neighbourhood Watch Association Trust (DNWAT) to engage with the community to establish a new group.