At the Surrey Heath External Partnerships Meeting, held at Surrey Heath House on 28 February 2023, Inspector Matt Walton, Commander Surrey Heath Police shared a presentation on recent crime figures in the borough.
These demonstrated there has been a significant drop in violent crime with injury in Surrey Heath - this is down 13.8% on last year and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is down by 28.2% which is highest reduction in the county. Violence without injury is also down by 8.5%.
Surrey Heath is one of the safest places in the country and several initiatives have been put in place to ensure this continues. A dispersal order was in place in Camberley town centre throughout December along with more police patrols. A dispersal order has also been put in place at Watchmoor Park following reports of car meets which is be reviewed weekly and police officers are on regular patrols at this location. Repeat offenders are also being identified via the automatic number plate reader now in place at the site which is directly linked to the national police data base to easily identify vehicles and their owners.
Cllr Colin Dougan, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Health, SHBC said;
“We are really pleased to see such significant drops in violent crime and ASB in Surrey Heath. We want everyone to feel safe in our borough and we will continue to work closely with our partners, including Surrey Police, to ensure we keep driving these figures down. Many thanks to Surrey Heath Police for their continued hard work and dedication towards protecting our residents and businesses from crime.”
Inspector Matt Walton said;
“These are very encouraging figures which I believe is the result of not only through my team’s efforts but also our key partners - in particular Surrey Heath Borough Council - to help achieve this bucking of the national trend.
We do want to highlight to residents however that car thefts are on the increase in Surrey Heath - we are putting in place initiatives to help combat this but if you have a keyless car please store your car keys, fob or card in an approved signal blocking box/bag, so the signal between the car and key is blocked. If your vehicle has the option then deactivate the keyless function when not in use. Also consider purchasing an approved steering wheel lock as these are an effective deterrent.
Always call 999 in an emergency or if it is not an emergency then please use the online reporting system on Surrey Police website (external link) or via a personal message to any of our social media pages. You can also use the Street Safe app which can be downloaded from the Police website (external link) as this allows you to report anonymously anywhere in public where you don’t feel safe. This could be an area that needs extra street lighting, an area that is overgrown or needs other improvements where we can work with our partners to try to make safer for you”
SHBC Driving Improvement across the borough
SHBC’s 'Driving Improvement' campaign focuses on improving key aspects of life in Surrey Heath. The Council is engaging with local people and working with partners to tackle anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping across the Borough, and working to protect and enhance the environment, making Surrey Heath an even better place to live.
- Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) - For more information on dealing with ASB visit the environment section of the website.
- Protecting and enhancing the environment. Read more about our climate change and sustainability work.
- Fly-tipping. You can report fly-tipping on our environmental offences webpage.