Letter from Westminster

4:38pm Tuesday 15th April 2008

LAST week I was the first to use an extension to Redditch's CCTV service in the town centre.

New, interactive, "speaking stations" are being installed by Redditch Borough Council at several CCTV camera sites.

Now, if a member of the public wants to report an incident on the street, they can speak to the control room from one of these stations and direct the cameras to the scene.

The system works in reverse too - as controllers can speak to people to remind them they are being observed or that the police are on route if they spot potential problems.

We can never be complacent about crime and we must be imaginative about how we tackle it.

The CCTV developments are one thing but this Friday I am going to see another initiative aimed at cutting crime.

An art competition for young people to express their pride of where they live!

Woodrow Community Support Officer Gemma Bosco-Woods has organised the event for the holiday period.

The competition will be a great way of getting individuals to think positively about where they live.

It will reinforce what I know about most young people and that is that they don't like their areas to be covered in graffiti, dirty or vandalised.

More traditional ways of fighting crime shouldn't be abandoned either. That is why I am meeting with the head of Worcestershire's Neighbourhood Watch network on Friday too! I am keen to hear what the "eyes and ears" of many of our communities think we can do to take the fight against crime still further.

These measures - and the hundreds of others that are being used around the country and in Redditch are having an effect. Crime is down in the last ten years - the chances of being a victim of crime at its lowest since 1981.

But being a victim of crime is NEVER OK. That's why I will always look for new and imaginative ways to tackle crime and, crucially, to make us all feel safer too!

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