What can be done to help decent people feel safe?

A large and growing number of local residents tell me they’ve had enough of the crime and thuggery that’s blighting parts of Birkenhead.

I’ve never before encountered such fear and anger in the town. Things have become so bad in parts of the Noctorum Estate that they’ve become known locally as ‘Beirut’. People are literally barricading themselves in their own homes to protect themselves.

There are bonfires being lit and rockets being fired towards people’s homes. Gangs of young people in black hoodies are taking out the street lights so they won’t get caught on camera throwing bricks through people’s windows. Police resources are so stretched that by the time a crime has been reported and an officer turns up, the thugs have bolted clear of the area.

So what can be done to help decent people feel safe in their homes and on their streets?

I wrote recently in this column that there are four different bodies with money to spend on tackling antisocial behaviour in Birkenhead – the police, the Council, the fire brigade and housing associations.

I have since started to gather data from each of these bodies on how they spend their money, and how this matches up with what local residents see is happening on their street.

My objective now is to have more and more of these resources given to the police so we can have more officers on patrol and ready to respond quickly as soon as an incident is reported.