Drop in offending after Brighton crime hotspot sees police pod installed
Sussex Police say businesses based along New Road have already noticed a difference
Last updated 21st Nov 2024
Sussex Police say they've already seen a drop in anti-social behaviour just a week after a police pod was installed in a notorious crime hotspot in Brighton.
The box on New Road is one of 29 across Sussex, which the force says have encouraged a 14% drop in crime at their bases across the county.
It joins other new additions in Hastings, Eastbourne, Crawley, Horsham, Worthing and Chichester.
The project has been funded using a £1.4 million Home Office cash pot to crack down on antisocial behaviour and serious violence this year.
Chief Inspector Jim Loader said the aim of the pods is to stop low level behaviour turning into something more serious:
"Even when these pods aren't staffed, it's that reminder to people that may perpetrate serious violence and anti social behaviour that we're here and we know these are our locations associated with more higher harm and where we're spending more time."
officers have had positive feedback from people and businesses in the area who feel safer and reassured.
The small huts act as a point of contact between police and the public, and host a table and two chairs with leaflets and a first aid box.
Hotspot teams were put in place in April, with police staff putting in 10,000 extra hours of patrol activity across Sussex.
Chief inspector Loader added it is up to officers how to staff the "versatile tool" in each "unique" hotspot area.
"The work we've been doing with the boxes that are already in place and those that we've added as well as our patrol activity across Sussex has had some really positive effects on the crime we're seeing and the anti-social behaviour we're seeing.
"It's often the staffing officers will spend a couple of hours here at a time and engage with communities and the people that live in the area, but they won't be working out of these full time," he added.
"They'll still be out patrolling and patrolling areas wider than just this pod."
He continued: "These are permanent fixtures. We bought these, and these remain here.
"We can move them if we see a need to change and a need to move these locations in accordance with the local authority agreements.
"But they are our pods, they're here to stay."