Why is crime so high in the Arboretum?
POLICE REVEAL REASONS FOR HIGH RATE OF OFFENCES
VISITING criminals and escape routes are two of reasons the Arboretum has one of the highest crime rates in Nottinghamshire.
Neighbourhood Inspector Riz Khan, who covers the area for Nottinghamshire Police, has lifted the lid on why the area is being so badly affected by crime.
Issues include burglary, knife crime, robbery and anti-social behaviour as well as sex workers using the area at the top end of the Forest Recreation Ground.
He said the area is one of the most diverse and deprived areas in the city and police are working at clearing the area of crime so it is a safe place to live and work for residents.
A Street Offences Team made up of four police officers and one sergeant has been appointed to deal with some of the problems.
Since June 2018 to July 2020, the team have made 376 arrests, with 247 offenders hauled before the courts.
They have also seized 171 vehicles, some containing drugs, weapons and baseball bats.
And they have stopped people with bladed weapons, including one man who ran away from police carrying a sword.
He said the good transport networks, including the tram, meant that offenders could commit crime in the area and make a fast getaway.
He said the area also had a network of alleyways for criminals to escape once they had committed an offence.
He said: “Quite often it is the busiest area in the city of Nottingham. It is visited by a lot of people because of the tram network and it is very diverse.
“We have the Forest Recreation Ground, the Arboretum park, the war memorial, and there is a lot of shops so it attracts a lot of people.
“It is also one of the most deprived areas. It presents challenges for us.
“A hypothesis that we have is that people travel to the area to commit crime and then leave the area.
“The people that we have arrested and detained do not live in the area.
“But we do have people who live in the area or close by who are responsible as well.”
Police UK was launched by the Home Office so residents could determine what types of incidents were prevalent in their area.
The most recent figures are for April, when the country was in lockdown, when the most crime, outside the city centre was recorded in the Arboretum.
There were 366 offences, with the most common being anti-social behaviour (202 reports), violence and sexual offences (56), drugs (20) and criminal damage and arson (18).
Next was Radford and The Park (326 crimes), Hucknall (320), and then Clifton (309).
Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “The Arboretum is not always the highest for crime but is is amongst the highest.
“It is not because bad people live there. It is because it is an area of multiple problems and the police can’t sort it out by themselves.
“What you find is that areas that are disadvantaged have people who prey on it because the houses are not secure and there is a lot of students that live down there. There are some easy pickings.
“There has been better lighting at the Forest Rec and CCTV.
“There is a lot of back alleys and cutthroughs and we need to focus on making it safer. The escape routes in the Arboretum are pretty strong.
“The only way we are going to solve it is with partnership working with the city council.
“It has got some great residents down there who want to feel safe and secure on their streets.”
Inspector Khan added: “We have so much to celebrate in the Arboretum. Overall, crime is down and it has been consistently down for some time including burglary, robbery, violent crime and auto crime. It is going in the right direction.
“The Arboretum has always been an area that has hotspots. My ambition was to look at initiatives to reduce crime and disorder and it is certainly working.
“The whole aim is to make the area a safe place to live, work and visit.if you think you can come to the Arboretum and commit crime we are not going to allow that. We don’t want you to bring the area down.”
The people that we have arrested and detained do not live in the area
Inspector Riz Khan