ANDREA JENKYNS
Yorkshire Post: Help Me Fight Crime

Across the country, and our region, crime rates are sadly increasing. In particular there has been an increase in both anti-social behaviour related offences, and violent crimes. This is a worrying trend and more must be done to fight back to keep crime rates low and our communities safe.

This summer, I told the Minister for Policing, Nick Hurd MP, that the people of my constituency, Morley and Outwood, want to see more police officers on the streets. I was pleased when he told me that the Government has taken steps that have led to an additional £460 million of investment going into the police system, including another £9.9 million for West Yorkshire.

A key commitment for Morley and Outwood is to hold local authorities to account. With this increased investment, the Police and Crime Commissioner for our area has said he will recruit more than 140 additional police officers and staff. This is welcome, however we must ensure an increase in police visibility comes quickly in order to catch criminals and deter anti-social behaviour cases in particular.

I have launched a petition on my website so that constituents can back my campaign to fight crime in our area. With more signatures, the pressure on local authorities, such as the Police and Crime Commissioner, to deliver on their promises will increase and we will see the positive impacts of the Government’s increased investments more immediately. You can sign up to this campaign on my website at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/y6unoype

More must be done to tackle violent crime also. I have arranged a meeting with the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid MP. I hope the Home Secretary agrees with me that more needs to be done to tackle crime and keep Yorkshire safe. Through stricter sentences, we will be able to better deter criminals before they commit crimes, which will both keep our area safe and also cut costs to fighting crime.

I am proposing an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons on this subject, pushing for longer sentences and more custodial sentences to be handed down to those found guilty of committing violent crime in order to keep the public safe and to deter further violent offences and to revive trust in our legal justice system.

Finally, we have recently seen the police being forced to use more active methods in order to fight moped related crimes, such as the use of reasonable and proportionate force. I, like the Home Secretary, welcome this. For too long the police have been restrained whilst criminals corrupted our societies. I am pleased that these tactics have helped reduce moped crime in London by 36% year on year and hope for further successes going forward.

More must be done to tackle crime, and together we can find ways to help keep our communities safe.