Visiting the city’s most crime-ridden streets after dark
LATEST DATA GIVES SNAPSHOT OF DANGEROUS AREAS
THE most dangerous streets in Hull have been revealed by data from a new street safety app helping people make informed choices when walking around our city.
Walksafe brings together police data and community reports to pinpoint where crimes happen in the city and displays these on a map.
The idea of the app is that you can see at a glance which areas of the city have high numbers of assaults, muggings and knife crimes to allow people to give those places a wide berth when planning a route.
All of the data is from the last 60 days, so it gives us a snapshot of the most crime-ridden areas of the city right now. Hull Live headed to four of the worst.
According to the app developers: “Our map shows police and Walksafe community reports of dangers such as knife crime, sexual assault and mugging.
“Walksafe automatically alerts you when you walk near these dangers. Use this information to plan safer routes and post live updates in your local area.
“The Walksafe map is designed to allow users to spot patterns and identify trouble hot spots where there is repeated crime.
“While a single count is just a snapshot, it is the repeated patterns over time that give the most knowledge.
That’s why the map is refreshed twice a week with new data from the monthly police reports.”
The crime icons are designed to help people to see patterns and regular trouble spots and the app automatically alerts users when near these crime hotspots: Red = violence/sexual assault Black = knife crime
Yellow = mugging
As well as police reports, the app also allows people to record when they “feel unsafe” – this appears as a light blue icon.
The colours on the Tapsafe feature will change depending on the time of day, allowing for discreet use at night time, reducing the risk of alerting a potential attacker.
Hull Live headed to the areas on the app where there were four or more crimes reported in a close cluster to see how safe it felt in Hull’s worst affected areas right now.
The first of these was Estcourt Street and the Rosmead Playing Fields, where there have been four assaults reported in the past 60 days and one instance of knife crime. HMP Hull, which is not far away, also has two assaults registered in the past 60 days.
On Estcourt street itself, it was quiet with only a few hooded figures passing the shops at the New Bridge Road end. People walk silently and swiftly through the area around Belmont Street and graffiti is common on the sides of the buildings here.
Estcourt Street is poorly lit in areas, as are the many ginnels and alleyways that provide shortcuts through the housing estate.
The next area was Wansbeck Road and Shannon Road with a cluster of eight crimes having been reported in the past 60 days.
The data showed that on Wansbeck Road and those streets leading off it there have been four assaults and one instance of knife crime, which was reported worryingly close to the primary school.
Here, the roads are very quiet with only a few dog walkers venturing out on their own into the darkness of the night.
There are large open areas of trees and grass in between the housing that are poorly lit and look intimidating for any pedestrian.
The areas around Pennine Way and the Pennine Play Park were one of the most obvious clusters
If I’m walking to the shops, I will automatically get an alert on my phone to a recent crime in the area Emma Kay
to pick out on the map, with a string of red warning markers leading from one end to the other.
The streets and ginnels in this area have reported seven assaults in the police data available to the app developers.
Again, the housing in the area is separated in places by large, poorly lit areas with trees and grass that make the streets intimidating for those heading out on their own.
The play park itself, which has been the focus of at least one reported assault, is itself also largely unlit with only people in pairs venturing out on the path through to Lothian Way.
A lone woman in Pennine Way bravely headed onto the estate, choosing one of the better-lit ginnels on which to make her journey.
Another cluster picked out by Hull Live was the one in Princes Avenue with two instances of knife crime, one in Princes Avenue itself and another in nearby Charing Close.
This is combined with two reports of assault in Princes Avenue and one in Pearson Park to paint a pretty grim picture of the area.
The street scene here is usually bustling with life during the evening, but there are quiet poorly lit areas that would be intimidating to any passes-by.
The large trees that line the road near Pearson Park block out much of the light from street lights in this area and there are often residents of the Westbourne House Hostel
wandering the streets in various states of inebriation.
Despite being one of the most popular spots for the nightlife in the city, there is an edge and an undercurrent to the avenue which can be felt at later hours when walking alone.
Assaults are the most common reported crime across the city with knife crime following and muggings seemingly less prevalent.
Other areas with high instances of reports include Hall Road (four assaults), Bodmin Road and surrounding streets (four assaults and one mugging) and Colwall Avenue and Priory Drive (four assaults).
Walksafe co-founder Emma Kay told the Daily Mail: “Personal safety is always something, as a woman, I’ve felt quite passionately about.
“The Walksafe map shows reports of crime taken from the monthly police report in the area.
“So that includes sexual assault, muggings, knife crime and pickpocketing. The crime icons are designed to help people see patterns and regular trouble spots.
“I use it when I am out and about with my little girl. If I’m walking to the shops, I will automatically get an alert on my phone to a recent crime in the area.
“That will enable me to either plan a different route – or start to identify crime patterns. So say I notice a few crimes happening, I might change my route.”