Mid and East Antrim crime rise

There were 6,739 crimes reported to the PSNI in the district in 2018/19 compared to 6,030 in 2017/18.

Violent crime has risen from 859 to 942 reported incidents.

Reports of violence without injury, including harassment, accounted for 1,367 incidents during 2018/19, up from 1,216 the previous year.

Criminal damage in Mid and East Antrim has also seen a rise from 1,128 to 1,223 incidents that were reported to police.

The PCSP has now published its key priorities for the forthcoming year. These include domestic abuse and sexual crime; hate crime and fear of crime; anti-social behaviour; drugs and alcohol; exploring paramilitary actions; road safety and neighbourhood watch.

Ballymena District Electoral Area has the fifth highest incidence of hate crime in Northern Ireland,

Overall, 187 hate crimes in Mid and East Antrim were race-related; 86 had a sectarian motivation and 16, homophobic.

Alderman John Carson, chairman, of Mid and East Antrim Policing and Community Safety Partnership, stressed that foreign nationals have “as much right to be here as anyone else”.

He said: “This is something we have been working very hard with police on.

“We have been holding seminars through the PCSP.  We have been educating people in the community with regard to hate crime.

“It is an ongoing process. We are working hard with different agencies such as the Housing Executive. We are doing the best we can.”

According to a recent PCSP survey, anti-social behaviour was one of six main concerns identified. These ranged from youths causing annoyance to alcohol and drug abuse, litter, dumping and animal nuisance.

The PSNI says: “Our local policing teams and neighbourhood officers are well attuned to the issues in their areas and continue to foster close working relationships with the people in the communities they serve.”

Other concerns were burglary, drug dealing/abuse, paramilitary activity, domestic abuse and road traffic offences.

Seventy-five per cent of respondents indicated they had total or some confidence in policing.

However, the PCSP chairman said: “There has been an overall problem with the number of police officers on the ground.”

He went on to say that as chair of the PCSP,  he will “leave no stone unturned” when it comes to tackling drug dealing.

He added that he did not think that drug abuse in Ballymena is “any worse than anywhere else”.

The PCSP report showed 183 incidents of anti-social behaviour were addressed by community safety wardens who carried out 873 patrols of housing estates with 246 people spoken to in relation to anti-social behaviour.

The Community Safety Wardens project, which was launched in December 2016, is funded by the NI Housing Executive and the PCSP. The PCSP has decided to continue to deliver the scheme and to “deploy wardens to hotspot areas to deter against anti-social behaviour”.

The partnership will also be delivering drug and alcohol support services to vulnerable people.

A domestic abuse support worker has given support to 112 victims. The service of the support worker is set to continue. There will also be support for men experiencing domestic abuse or sexual violence.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter.