More beat bobbies needed to tackle drugs, fighting and scooters in our ‘underprivileged’ estate, residents say

Drugs, fighting, electric scooters and racing are all “big problems” on a deprived estate in Leicester, residents have told LeicestershireLive. We asked people living in the Saffron Lane area of ​​the city what they thought were the biggest problems in their neighborhood and what they wanted to see happen to solve them.

It came after Leicestershire Police announced it would crack down on crime and anti-social behavior on the estate. The force’s campaign, called Safer Saffron, will aim to “create a brighter future for young people” in the area and “make Saffron Lane Estate a better, safer and more prosperous place to live, work and visit”.

For the people we spoke to, the best way to tackle crime on the estate was simple: They said they thought there needed to be more police on the streets in their neighbourhood.

READ MORE: New powers granted to tackle ‘dangerous’ car racing in the village

One couple I spoke to, Kim Grafton, 20, and Dan Norman, 25, have a one-year-old son. They told us to “keep it out of (their) sight” because of the problems they see in the neighborhood. Drugs and fighting are key issues, they said.

“There needs to be more police on the streets,” Dan said. Kim agreed, saying a visible police presence would “stop all the fighting.” She added that officers need to walk around and patrol to “stop all drug dealing as well.”

“They stop a lot of cars and (vehicles) and you can actually see them change,” Kim said. “We see her at least two or three times a week.”

“You can hear a lot of fighting in the streets,” she added. “Especially when people are drinking. So there needs to be a lot more patrolling and tracking what’s going on.”

For local business owner Beatrice Ingham, electric scooters and cars traveling through the property are the main concern. She said: “What we get here is a lot of people on electric scooters flying around. It must be stopped.”

She added: “You never see a policeman. It has to be on the beat.”

However, Beatrice said she was surprised by the new initiative by the police.

She and her husband moved to the area 25 years ago and at the time Saffron Lane Estate was “like the Wild West”, she said. A quarter of a century later, it’s “much better.”

“People, you can’t blame him. Hand on heart, we can’t say the people here are bad,” Beatrice said. “I am very shocked that Saffron Lane is being painted as evil.”

Another resident of the area, Joseph Hawkins, 34, told LeicestershireLive there were “too many gangs” in the area. He said: “Years ago, it would have been fist fights, but now they are fighting with knives.”

And drugs are “a big, big problem, just like downtown,” he said, adding that he wants to see the drug problem “solved” and “more help out there” for people who use them.

Despite the police announcement, resident Gary Toone, 63, said he didn’t think things on the estate would change. He said: “Certainly the bricks can see what needs to be done. They would see that every day around here. The police can’t do it now, can they?

Announcing the new approach to crime in the area, Inspector Paul Crewe, South Leicester policing area commander, said the campaign would be based on the previous government’s ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ model, which he described as ‘regular- the police approach to meaning’.

He said: “Taking down organized crime gangs will prevent violence, close county lines which will stop the flow of harmful drugs poisoning our communities and reduce anti-social behaviour. This, in turn, will create a brighter future for the youth. in those areas.

“These areas have so much to be proud of, but serious crime has implications for the whole community, from an increase in anti-social behavior to the impact on local services such as the NHS and social care, but we can’t do it alone – we need . a police, partnership and community response if we want to send the message to people involved in serious and organized crime that they are not welcome here.

“Clear, Hold, Build is different to what we’ve done before because it has a much greater focus on the medium to long term, working with our partners to ensure that the problems caused by deprivation and crime don’t just start from new. “

In 2019, the estate was ranked 172 out of 32,844 neighborhoods in England in the government’s 2019 Indices of Deprivation, making it the most deprived area in Leicester. However, it was beaten to that dubious title last year when Peppercorn Close, off Beaumont Leys Lane in the town, took the top spot. The rankings take into account factors such as people’s income, their education and skills, their health and disabilities, their living environment and local crime statistics.