Poorly-lit streets and the feeling of being followed are among the most commonly reported concerns in Norfolk, according to data from the Street Safe tool.
Street Safe was launched in October 2021 by the police, with particular encouragement to women and girls to use it following widespread safety concerns in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard.
Information is then used to influence hotspot, high visibility patrols to provide public reassurance.
The top environmental concerns reported to Norfolk Police via Street Safe are:
- Badly lit – mentioned in 268 reports
- Absence of CCTV – mentioned in 208 reports
- Signs of drugs/alcohol – mentioned in 181 reports
- Restricted visibility – mentioned in 134 reports
- Empty buildings – mentioned in 106 reports
- Poor layout – mentioned in 106 reports
- Rundown area – mentioned in 92 reports
The top behavioural concerns reported to Norfolk Police via Street Safe are:
- Verbal harassment from a group – mentioned in 148 reports
- Feeling of being followed – mentioned in 135 reports
- Other harassment – mentioned in 105 reports
- Verbal harassment from an individual – mentioned in 98 reports
A spokesman for Norfolk Police said that there have been 736 patrols carried out in areas where people have reported feeling unsafe on the Street Safe online tool.
Officers have also been involved in 1,531 ‘park, walk and talk’ foot patrols in the same period, giving members of the public the opportunity to talk about issues affecting the community
The reports have also been broken down by district, with Norwich taking top spot as to where the most reports were made.
- Norwich - 252
- Great Yarmouth - 132
- King's Lynn - 75 reports
- Breckland - 56
- South Norfolk - 52
- North Norfolk - 45
- Broadland - 39
The Street Safe tool will continue to be in use until the end of March 2022 and Norfolk Police would like to encourage women and girls to report where they feel unsafe.
Officers working on their own will proactively offer to carry out a verification check for anyone they come across who appears, as a result of their interaction with police, to be concerned for their safety.
Members of the public can also request that a verification check be carried out and Norfolk Police will respond immediately.
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