I don't believe there is a rise in crime.
There is a rise in communication of
crimes in the area improving with Falkirk Police's Twitter feed giving
the perception there is more crime.
The news here is the police are
becoming more effective in communicating with the public and that social
media is part of that.
I believe a petition circulating on social media is a knee jerk reaction
to the garage robbery and attempted murder.
The robbery would have
required an armed response team to attend the scene, therefore a police
station would be of little help.
When the police station was open it was
only during office hours.
Although nothing publicly has been said I
believe the police will buy or rent a unit in the new town centre for an
office hours station.
If the police already had one in the town centre,
there is no reason to think they won't do so again.
A lot of the
problem in Denny is to do with reassurance of the public.
The public
want to feel safe even if there is little change if a police station was
to be based in Denny.
A regional office is often only used for
administration purposes and paper work.
It is cost effective to
centralise the police service as much as possible and is a benefit to
the community.
By saving money panda car patrols can potentially be
increased.
I regularly see the police in the area as much as there was
when there was a station in Denny.
A lot of the problem is public
perception.
There is a page on Facebook called "Denny Toon" with some
5,000 followers.
It is my belief that this page has been helping to
stoke a perception of an increase in crime and has been often critical
of the police and local government.
I believe the answer is with
communication and who is in charge of communication.
I believe the
Neighbourhood Watch Alert scheme is a good idea, but the blowback is a
perception of an increase in crime.
Again, communication is the answer
in all of this.
I have been helping to get people to join the
Neighbourhood Watch Alert scheme by sharing the link on my own Denny presence on Facebook.
I hope it is a great success.
