Safety on St James Street
Positives
- The feel of the community/ informal support networks
- Vibrant and well lit
- Café culture
- Diversity
- Diversity of shops
- Street security workers
- Bus service
- Lighting on street
Negatives
- Lack of Police presence at night and in general
- Lack of CCTV
- Amount of drug dealers/ Substance (drug and alcohol) abuse – Happening on street
- ASB
- Violence
- Assaults and homophobic attacks
- Theft and fear of crime
- Homelessness
- Passive/aggressive begging
- Party houses – creating noise
- Cash machines
- Cyclists
Suggestions for improvement
- More/ improved CCTV
- Legislation around party houses
- More visible Police presence
- Sharing of information on a wider scale (With other public services; initiatives like ‘Pub Watch’)
- A point of contact for drugs and associated dealers – building a report of patients
- More in-depth interaction with Police officers and staff – Knowing your officers
- Remove graffiti – More Art
- Planting greenery
- Sympathetic medicals for drug users but no tolerance for ‘dealers’
- Housing
- Remove ‘dark’ spots on street – especially side street
- Drug consumption rooms
- Bid for this area?
Requirements to make this change possible!
- Support for homeless people – More cohesive approach to problem (Charities to work together)
- Alarms for local businesses and residents
- Further Police and council resources
- Help from support services (Or more of it)
- Further support and resources from the local community
- Liaison Point with Police – Closed Facebook or WhatsApp group
- Increased Police patrols (On foot) at all times of the week
- More central and creative use of support services to be used for drug/alcohol addicts – Set up places for them to go – focus on treatment
- All services to have financial aid
- Voluntary agencies
- Recruit Volunteers – Provide incentives