Making everywhere as safe as the idyllic Isles of Scilly
Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez is visiting one of the lowest crime rated parts of the Westcountry to find out its
EVEN on a grey day the Isles of Scilly are idyllic, with soft sandy beaches and coves, beautifully preserved historic buildings and well-tended gardens.
I am privileged to have visited the islands for work and am delighted to be returning this week to speak to residents, the islands’ policing team and businesspeople.
Islanders understandably cherish not only their incredible natural environment but also the relative peace, tranquillity and safety that their surroundings and community offer them.
Just two crimes were reported in the islands in February – the last month for which data is available.
The islands are served by a policing team of four, a Police Community Support Officer, two Constables and a Sergeant, and this team can call on resources from the mainland if they require them.
You might be forgiven for thinking that a posting to the island is an easy job, but that is not necessarily the case. Like a lot of isolated rural communities there is work for the policing team that is not crime related.
I’m pleased to say that Scilly is one of the only areas where road safety is not really a considerable concern. People drive slowly by necessity and this means serious road traffic incidents are a rarity (take note those who rail against speeding enforcement on the mainland). My other priorities of reducing violence, anti-social behaviour and drug use, are as relevant here as they are elsewhere.
In recent years people have become much more confident in reporting sexual abuse and domestic violence but these are sadly still under-reported crime types, particularly in rural areas. The Scilly policing team are focussed on encouraging reporting of these crimes so they can better understand levels in the island, and they are working with partners to safeguard vulnerable individuals in their community.
Last month it was announced that the police and Isles of Scilly Council will be looking to introduce a public spaces protection order in response to complaints about antisocial behaviour that takes place, typically at night, on St Mary’s stunning beaches. This will give officers powers to issue fixed penalty notices to anyone behaving unreasonably.
As national lead for antisocial behaviour I know how impactful it can be on people’s lives. It encompasses a broad range of behaviours, from nuisance bonfires to really worrying incidents where people’s wellbeing and safety are at risk, so I am pleased to see the police working in partnership with others to crack down on this.
Drugs, too, are on the team’s radar, with police on the islands intercepting 37 packages of illicit substances throughout the Covid19 lockdown periods. They are also engaged with educating younger people on the islands about getting involved in narcotics.
As with the rest of Devon and Cornwall, the Scillies see crime rates increase in the summer months, when visitors from around the world arrive and the evening and night-time economy takes off. Occasionally tragedy strikes and the team will find themselves dealing with a serious incident which requires them to call on support from colleagues, but generally these are some of the safest places to live and work in the UK – even at the height of last year’s busy tourist season there were just nine crimes recorded in a four-week period.
So in some respects the Scillies, while unique in their own way, are a microcosm of the wider Devon and Cornwall area.
And in Middlemoor police HQ it does us no harm to reflect on what makes this community one of the safest in the country. They are close knit, their police station is open to the public and their policing team is known and trusted by local people.
As Devon and Cornwall’s police officer numbers reach their record levels, and with plans afoot to reopen some of the stations previously closed under austerity, I hope that more communities around Devon and Cornwall will soon be benefitting from a similar relationship with their local officers.
‘Drugs are on the policing team’s radar – with 37 packages intercepted’