Evidence has shown that community engagement and action create a sense of belonging and place for residents. There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests come together to work towards the same goal. The Safer Communities Toolkit has been produced to provide communities with the knowledge and skills to tackle the concerns they feel are important in their local area.
The resources below provide information about a range of community safety issues as well as links to evidence about our local communities and organisations that can help. This includes advice on conducting surveys and community engagement, links to grant funding and evidence to support a grant application.
Safer Cornwall’s primary objective is helping communities to be and feel safe. A wide range of services and support is available throughout Cornwall to respond to concerns about crime, anti-social behaviour and other issues that impact on community safety – our quick reference guide will help you find what you need.
Do you want to know more about the local area? There is a wealth of information available to help you – about the people, the local environment, jobs and housing, levels of crime and health and wellbeing.
Local experience and national evidence demonstrate the benefits to communities and organisations when they communicate effectively.
There are many avenues of funding helping communities improve an area by reducing crime and supporting community safety initiatives.
Safer Cornwall is a partnership of public, voluntary, community and private organisations who come together to do all that they can to make Cornwall’s communities safer.
If you would like to find out about the ownership or boundary of a piece of land you can find out on the Land Registry website here
Many road related concerns for our Cornish Communities fall into the broad categories of speeding, parking or large vehicles.
Unlike many other elements of this toolkit, these problems are often very visible to the community and can be chronic in nature.
The common response for many communities will be to demand enforcement and a policing presence do deal with a specific location. However, we have found that the short-term presence by a police officer does not have any long-term impact to the targeted behaviour, nor does the implementation of double yellow lines as this simply moves the parking problem to elsewhere in the community.
Often, the answer to these chronic issues lies within the community itself and community engagement becomes the key to more holistic, long term solutions.
Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is a broad term for many types of behaviour that cause are or likely to cause a person Alarm, Harassment or Distress.
The list of behaviours that fit into this area is huge, but can be more easily classified into 3 areas:
• PERSONAL (targeted at a person, business or group),
• NUISANCE (could be targeted but are usually more generalised behaviour that effects the community)
• ENVIRONMENTAL (this type of behaviour effects the community and individuals e.g. Graffiti)
Cornwall Councils’ ASB Team works alongside many different agencies to lead or assist with cases where ASB is either the main issue or a contributing factor. It is important for you to make sure that you get the correct lead agency when reporting issues to us as this will help the Council and partner agencies such as Devon and Cornwall Police, Social Landlords, etc deal with your reports as effectively as possible.
In many cases we receive reports where a criminal act has been committed. If this is the case for you, the first agency that you should report to is Devon and Cornwall Police using these methods:
Non Emergency
Call 101
Online form www.devon-cornwall.police.uk and click “Contact” then “Report”
Emergencies
Where a crime is in process or there is an immediate threat of harm Call 999
Below is a list of some of the more common complaints we receive and how you can help us to help you.
Crime Prevention comprises strategies and measures that seek to reduce the risk of crimes occurring, and their potential harmful effects on individuals and society, including fear of crime, by intervening to influence their multiple causes.
There are four types of crime prevention. They law enforcement, and developmental, community, and situational prevention.
Law enforcement is form of crime prevention is associated with the criminal justice system – police, courts and prisons – and is the most commonly understood form of crime prevention.
Developmental is a form of early intervention; developmental crime prevention seeks to address the early causes of criminality. Reducing community and individual risk factors and increasing protective factors, helps to prevent crime later in life. Examples of this may be skills training within schools.
Community crime prevention believes that strengthening neighbourhoods helps prevent crime. Local communities that have strong bonds and where people know each other are generally less prone to experience crime. Enhancing ‘social capital’ or the relationships between people can be beneficial in protecting people from crime. Examples of this may be Neighbourhood Watch Schemes
Situational crime prevention can be as simple as installing locks and alarms, increasing surveillance through lighting and making buildings harder to enter, damage or hide near.
This section hopes to provide advice and guidance on Crime prevention and helpful links in order for you to make your community safer.
Community wellbeing is the combination of social, economic, environmental, cultural, and political conditions identified by individuals and their communities as essential for them to flourish and fulfil their potential.
When we look at community as a whole, we find three attributes that play a large role in wellbeing: connectedness, liveability, and equity. We can explore each of these attributes for factors that contribute to community wellbeing.
Connection is fostered by a community’s social networks that:
A liveable community is supported by the infrastructure, including:
An equitable community is supported by values of diversity, social justice, and individual empowerment, where:
Encouraging involvement and investment in your local environment, from all ages and walks of life, can help residents to feel connected and invested creating a sense of place. Not only does this create a cleaner and healthier environment, it can foster cross-generational interaction and sharing of valuable knowledge. This can range from litter picks to zero carbon schemes, to tree planting and community gardens.
Do you have ideas for a community group to tackle projects in your community or want to start a green initiative?
To support you see links below for different topics that you can support your community with.
Ending domestic abuse and sexual violence (DASV) and violence against women and girls (VAWG) are priorities for Safer Cornwall. Beyond the immediate physical and emotional harm caused, DASV and VAWG have far-reaching and long-lasting impacts on adults and children.
