“Specialist neighbourhood policing training will be rolled out across the country as the government kicks off its pledge to restore neighbourhood policing. With crimes that blight communities on the rise, like shoplifting, snatch theft and antisocial behaviour, the government has pledged to put thousands more neighbourhood police officers, community support officers and special constables are out patrolling streets and town centres.”

On September 10, with relatively little fanfare, the government made this announcement. Alongside other higher profile announcements, such as renationalising the railways, the launch of GB energy or the removal of VAT-free status on private schools, it perhaps didn’t get the attention that it deserved. It is a stepping stone towards the government’s manifesto commitment to increase by 13,000 the number of neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs.

This is particularly relevant to those of us that live in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle.

A couple of months ago, I wrote about the challenges that were currently being felt in Camborne. On the face of it, levels of crime and antisocial behaviour seem to have calmed down a little since then, but we still have a long way to go. I have been liaising closely with the police over recent weeks and last week I was privileged to go out on neighbourhood patrol with James and Yas from our local neighbourhood policing team in Camborne. It was an absolutely fascinating insight and one that I have committed to repeating on a regular basis, so that I stay close to the challenges that our police officers are facing and ensuring that I am doing whatever I can to overcome them.

Here are three key insights that I gleaned about the challenges faced in Camborne:

1. the idea that the majority of antisocial behaviour comes from either folk living in pods in Rosewarne car park or from people they are attracting to Camborne is a total and utter myth. It simply isn’t the case. The majority of issues faced in Camborne are being perpetrated by folk that are residents of Camborne and known to our local Force – not those in the pods.

2. The police are required by law to pass through a series of warnings and orders, sometimes timebound, of regular offenders before action can be progressed. This is an important part of the process as it can deter repeat offences.

3. The key barrier to permanently setting this small group on a different path in life is the hopelessly overwhelmed wrap-around services that support them away from drug and alcohol addiction. The merry-go-round of arrest them, locking them up, charging them, and then releasing them back into the community after a few weeks or months without ongoing support is not helping them or the community.

The hard truth is, if we all want a town centre that is free of antisocial behaviour, we have to look at what it will take. That means support and counselling for the long-term. The easy answers are rarely the right ones. And no one understands this better than our superb local police officers.

Perran Moon

Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth