The new boss of Mansfield District Council has explained plans to tackle high crime rates in the area. According to police data published in April, Mansfield was named the second most dangerous town in Nottinghamshire.
Mansfield Town Centre and Broomhill is just behind Nottingham City Centre and Trent Bridge for the highest crime rate for its population from February 2021 to January 2022, with a rate of 361.2 per 1,000 people. The data revealed there were 1,039 cases of violence and sexual assault and 805 crimes of anti-social behaviour during this timeframe.
It's the 64th most dangerous town in the UK, and residents previously described the rates as "disgusting". New council chief executive Adam Hill says hopes of bringing more business and infrastructure into the area will help, and that finding out where these incidents are happening and what's causing them will crack down on cases.
READ MORE: What residents think is behind tag of living in one of Nottinghamshire's most dangerous towns
Mr Hill said: "Part of that is upskilling people and making sure people have enough money to cope. When we're talking about the bigger issues, that's where we need to play our part, in not only blue light services, but with voluntary partners as an example to join up all the dots.
"We need to look at the hotspots in Mansfield, and we can then drill down to see what the underlying issues are. With my experience, I've dealt with riots and other areas with pockets of deprivation and crime stats, and that helps.
"It's about understanding from the community which of it is a perception, and which is a reality. We used to have things like lots of CCTV cameras, and at one time it was going on every street corner, but all that did was move the problem around."
Mr Hill says finding out what's causing crime to happen will help from his experience. He says there needs to be "awareness in schools" about aspirations to lead young people away from a life of crime.
Mr Hill said: "We have to stop that and make sure we deal with the causes - it's often cause and effect, we see the effect but don't always see what the cause is. We need to utilise data to understand the real problems and tackle them.
"We've got officers working within communities where we know there are some greater challenges to show that leadership in community of what they can be. It can be young people too, so it's making sure there is awareness in schools about what aspirations are, what they can be when they grow up, sports they can be engaged in."
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