THE woman bidding to be Northumbria Police supremo believes lessons can be learned from South Tyneside’s approach to tackling anti-social behaviour.
Vera Bair, Labour’s candidate for the new Police and Crime Commissioner post visited the borough to learn at first hand how the council is working with its partners to tackle crime.
Ms Baird, a former solicitor-general in the previous Labour Government, paid a visit to Westoe Crown Village in South Shields, where she met local residents and Horsley Hill Labour councillors Iain Malcolm and Eileen Leask and Westoe representative Coun Mark Walsh.
Ms Baird, who will be seeking election in November, discussed how effective South Tyneside’s Community Safety Partnership is at reducing crime.
Compared to the previous year, total crime in the borough fell last year by 11.9 per cent, against a Northumbria Force average of 8.4 per cent.
She said: “I was pleased to meet ward councillors including council leader Iain Malcolm and to hear about the council’s vision for ‘Safe, Clean and Green’ neighbourhoods,
“I was also impressed with the findings of the latest Community Safety Survey, which showed that 97 per cent of South Tyneside residents felt safe in the areas in which they lived.”
She added: “I believe other areas within the Northumbia Force can learn from the best practices and partnership approach by South Tyneside, particularly when you learn that instances of anti-social behaviour in the borough have fallen by 21 per cent.
“Those who do offend must be dealt with quickly and decisively and I am pleased to see that offenders have performed over 20,000 hours of Community Payback to help improve local neighbourhoods within South Tyneside.”
Ms Baird also undertook campaign work in Whiteleas and The Nook shopping area, urging residents to sign a petition opposing Government cuts to police budgets.
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