A poster of young people wearing hoodie tops aims to make people in Broxbourne feel safer on the streets.
The poster, by the Broxbourne Community Safety Partnership, shows a picture of four children in hooded tops and carries the slogan: “Don’t judge them by their dress sense!” It then has a bubble next to each youth, explaining what they do in their spare time. The bubbles read: “Trainee chef”; “Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award”; “Weekend volunteer at old folks’ home” and “Skateboarder and plays the piano”.
The poster was launched to reassure members of the community after research found that local residents were worried about crime and anti-social behaviour in the borough. The fears do not match the statistics, which show crime and anti-social behaviour is actually very low in the district and has been decreasing further in recent years.
A range of posters, flyers, leaflets and advertisements aim to reassure residents and explain what is being done to help improve community safety. Community action days, crime prevention days and youth days are also held as part of the reassurance strategy.
The Community Safety Partnership is made up of the borough council, police and other agencies. Its key priorities are to improve public confidence and perceptions about anti-social behaviour; reduce dwelling burglary, shoplifting and domestic violence; tackle drug and alcohol misuse and reduce anti-social behaviour and enviro-crime.
The council says: “Broxbourne remains a safe area, but certain issues and concerns were identified which need to be tackled by partners. This Community Safety Plan has the following overarching goals: to reduce crime and disorder, to safeguard communities and reduce fear of crime and to improve quality of life in the borough.”