IN the constant wrangling which politicians indulge in over statistics who knows whether crime is going down or up.
Some say it’s on the decline, others claim that rates are travelling in the opposite direction.
The one thing that can be said with a degree of certainty is that there is a massive fear of crime.
So a welcome must be given to today’s news that 200 residents in Rawthorpe and Dalton are to be fitted with security devices including lighting, spy-holes and window locks.
It’s a good idea and is £10,000 of spending from the public purse which surely no-one will begrudge.
We should all have the right to feel safe in our own home and measures like this will go a long way towards achieving that aim.
But the real goal should be to steer people away from a life of crime. It is not impossible to tackle the problem, but it is a long haul.
A starting point has to be with young people and projects to keep them out of temptation to fall into trouble.
Any work to keep youngsters on the straight and narrow should be supported by all.
It should go without saying – though sadly does need to be spelled out – that the police must have adequate resources with which to fight crime.
But that’s fodder for another argument between politicians.
