A WEBSITE highlighting the country’s worst crime hotspots was dubbed
CRIMEBOTCH last night – after statistics were often wrong and it crashed on
its first day.
The site, www.police.uk,
cost 300,000 to develop and uses online maps for residents to see recorded
crime levels in their streets.
The Home Office claims it will make police chiefs more answerable to the
public.
But cops admitted many of the figures shown were false or misleading – and
angry residents feared falling house prices and dearer insurance as a
result.
One street labelled the most burgled last month – Fairfield Drive in Bury,
Lancs – did not suffer a single crime.
Have your say below on how well you think the Government deals with crime.
Once you’ve voted, scroll down to see the results
To add to the chaos, the website crashed after its launch yesterday as 18
million people an hour tried to access it.
Inaccuracies were blamed on the method of presenting statistics. In some cases
all crimes for an area are shown as taking place in a single quiet street.
This is because roads with less than 12 residents are included in a wider area
to avoid identifying crime victims. Things like nearby nightclubs can
inflate the figure.
In several cases hoax calls logged at police stations were flagged up as local
crimes.
Glover’s Court in Preston, Lancs, is listed as the most crime-ridden of
all. But police said only three of the 152 crimes listed actually took place
there.
Kingswood Close in Egham, Surrey, is shown with ten burglaries – but it was a
single offence in which all ten rooms at a student house were raided.
And the property is not even in the same street.
Former Scotland Yard flying squad commander John O’Connor branded the website
“confusing”.
But Policing Minister Nick Herbert dismissed claims that it would increase the
fear of crime.
He said: “We have to reveal what is happening and give information and power
to the public. This is a very important part of a strengthened effort to
fight crime.”
b.flynn@the-sun.co.uk
THE map wrongly brands Fairfield Drive in Bury as the most burgled street in
the country – and among the worst for violence and anti-social behaviour.
But police yesterday put their hands up and admitted it is NOT – with
no recorded crime there in the past month.
The Sun found just one victim – Karen Herdson, 44, who had lead stolen from
her porch three years ago.
Cops from Greater Manchester said their map had shown all the crime for one
area concentrated on a central point – unfortunate Fairfield Drive.
Nurse Debbie Coop, 46, moved away from the street once – but moved back
because she missed it so much.
The mum of four said: “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. One of the best
things is how safe it feels.
“I have never been burgled, and I don’t know anyone else who has.”
Another resident, singer Alan Beal, 28, said: “We had a great time growing up
here.
“As children we never felt threatened or worried about crime.
“No one I know around here has ever been broken into. This ridiculous map has
shocked the whole street.”
A police source said: “The impression the map gives is completely wrong and
now we have to pick up the pieces by reassuring local people.”
David Nuttall, Tory MP for Bury, said: “It is essential the information is
accurate. I trust errors will be corrected without delay.”
STUNNED residents of Rowley Road, in Haringey, found their street branded
second worst in the country for anti-social behaviour, with 77 cases in
December.
They fear their clean, well-maintained terraced homes in North London could
plunge in value.
Charity worker Anna Martinez, 36, said: “It’s really bizarre. The only thing
you occasionally get is fly-tipping.”
Gloria Hosbands, 67 – who has lived there more than 40 years – called the
crime map “stupid”.
She said: “They’ve got to get their facts straight.
“Our reputation is going to be ruined.”
They are backed by local MP David Lammy who is demanding a government apology.
He said: “It’s an absolute disgrace.
“How dare they label Rowley Road a crime road without even checking their
facts? All this does is fuel unnecessary stigma.”
FURIOUS locals in a quiet road just 100 yards long blasted the online map as
“absurd” after it was wrongly labelled the third most crime-ridden in the
country.
Surrey Street in Portsmouth, Hants, is shown on the website as having suffered
136 incidents in December alone.
All but two were actually committed in nearby streets, shopping centres and
Portsmouth University halls of residence – which all share the same
postcode.
Local councillor Eleanor Scott said: “This map is utterly absurd – it’s a
gigantic blunder.
“There is no excuse for misplacing the location of these crimes.
“The Home Office needs to apologise to businesses operating in Surrey Street,
because it’s damaging.”
Chef Scott Mussen and colleague Zoe Banks, who work at the street’s Surrey
Arms pub, branded the site a waste of taxpayers’ cash.
Scott said: “This is a quiet road. It’s hardly Beirut.”
And pub landlord Paul Ojla added: “We could end up losing customers who are
afraid to come here.”
POLICE near Fairford Way, Gloucester, blame a hoax caller after the Home
Office ranked it the third worst street in Britain for anti-social
behaviour.
The residential cul-de-sac with around 30 houses has had 75 recorded
incidences of anti-social behaviour in the last year.
But Gloucestershire police said most of them were down to a hoaxer.
A spokesman said: “Sixty-four of the incidents relate to one person who lives
in the area but not in the road itself.
“These are recorded as hoax calls to emergency services and come under the
category of anti-social behaviour.
“We are working hard to resolve the situation with this caller as it is a
waste of our time and resources.”
Residents were surprised to find themselves so high up the league of shame.
Pharmacy worker Teresa Long, 43, who has lived there for nine years, said: “I
didn’t think it was that bad.
“We had someone break into the shed when we moved in but there’s been nothing
since then.
“It wouldn’t make me want to move away.”
Advertisement
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 3]