I always get
concerned when I read about robberies or attacks in our town. It’s not just the
nasty experience that someone has been put through but I worry will this deter
people visiting Hastings
or moving here.
So when I read
about an unpleasant mugging of some foreign students staying in the town I
asked for the facts. Of course statistics can never compensate the students who
were picked on but the facts are that foreign students are safer than ever in Hastings.
There were about
40 incidents in 2009, 28 in 2011 and just 11 so far this year. We used to worry
too about alcohol-related assaults and unruly behaviour on Friday and Saturdays
in the town centre. We were worried that Hastings
might be worse than other towns so people might choose to go there. It turns
out now that between April and July Eastbourne126 such incident (37.4 per
1,000 residents) and Hastings 98 (29.1 per thousand).
As for figures
for all crimes in the town our local police commander recently reported that “this
year so far has seen further reductions in crime compared to this time last
year 15 % reduction in total crime, this equates to 339 fewer victims of
crime.”
So is every crime one too many - yes; is it a nasty
experience for the victim - all too
often yes; is Hastings generally a safe place to live, study in or to visit -
yes. Let’s all work hard to keep it that way.
