Crime and antisocial behaviour are terrible problems and ones which got worse during the last Government’s time in office.
As many residents may know, I am very concerned about this and have been working with Thames Valley Police and Reading Borough Council to help them tackle these problems.
I’m pleased that tackling crime and antisocial behaviour is a very high priority for the new Government.
The Government is also due to introduce tougher powers to tackle antisocial behaviour in a Crime and Policing Bill, which will include a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending. There are also plans to introduce zero tolerance zones through a form of expedited public space protection orders to prevent anti-social drinking, drug dealing or other offences within particular areas.
Residents have told me that they want to see more police patrols in their area, and I am pleased that the Government also plans to put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.
Knife crime is an issue that I have been working on for a number of years, and I continue to support local campaigners who have been doing some very important work on this matter. Measures to take much tougher action on knives and to provide more support to young people is essential, and I am glad that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have prioritised action on this in their first 100 days, holding the first annual Knife Crime Summit at Downing Street and initiating legislation to ban ninja swords.
This follows a new ban on zombie-style knives and machetes that came into force on 24 September. There is no legitimate need for a weapon of this kind in our homes or on our streets, and I am pleased that the Government is working with police and community leaders to bring the knife crime epidemic to an end and offer a better future for our young people.
Last weekend I attended one of the performances of ‘CODE’ by the urban theatre group Justice in Motion held at the John Madejski Academy. Aimed at families, this powerful production highlighted the vulnerability and dangers for young people getting involved with criminal gangs, knife crime and county lines drug offences. I was glad to see this event was so well-attended and commend the organisers for bringing this thought-provoking production to our town
Shoplifting continues to be a serious problem. I have been campaigning against violence against shopworkers for some time and I know that, like me, the Government is concerned about this issue and wants to take steps to tackle it. The new Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200 and introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Locally, Thames Valley Police and other local agencies are taking reports of antisocial behaviour and crime in our town very seriously and are working hard to combat these issues and to prevent them from recurring. I am due to hold meetings with the police and other local stakeholders in the coming weeks to discuss these issues and to feedback residents’ concerns.
If you are one of the many residents being impacted by antisocial behaviour or crime, please share your experience with me by completing my survey at https://mattroddamp.com/asb
Matt Rodda is the Labour MP for Reading Central
