One of those weeks... Part One.. Violence Physical , Mental and Drink related

Well I blinked and the week rocketed by. There were a number of issues that needed attention and I learnt some new things, some encouraging, some not.

My week started in the Kingswood suite at Wakefield Town Hall, with a group of other members of the Crime and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee where we were briefed about a series of Domestic Abuse initiatives that are being pursued to reduce amount of physical and mental abuse that takes place at home across the district.

We learned some thought provoking stuff such as the amount of incidents that are drink related or happen when a sporting event has not worked out the way some people want it to. We also heard of the amount of situations that when taken to court have fallen at the hurdle on the day. When the partner does not want to or will not give evidence. We also learned how police head cam footage taken at the scene during or immediately after an incident may help overcome partner withdrawal of evidence.

Troubling and pause for thought about the number of people of all ages that have been exposed to violence in the home.

The second briefing was about crime statistics across the district. Reported crime is reducing but violent crime, particularly the sort that's linked in to the night time drinks economy is a big issue.

Down in Wakefield where a scheme deploying Street Marshalls seems to be working to reduce the number of incidents that escalate into full blown brawling or assault.

Static in Pontefract where things just go ahead and hit critical without that sort of intervention. Apparently reported street incidents are down but violent offences remain constant. (That one really does not compute, maybe its because incidents with blood spilled are more difficult to ignore and therefore do get picked up.)

As an advocate of alcohol exclusion zones outside or around licensed premises and holding licensees to account for selling to people when they are drunk or incapable I am going to keep following through on this one.

One conclusion that came from the day. Yes we need some of our own Street Marshalls in Pontefract, or at least enough police presence on the streets to make those streets a safer place to be.