Dudley Youth Council Safety, Policing and Crime in the Dudley Borough. What young people think…

DYC (Dudley Youth Council) is a group of young people aged between who want to make a difference in their local area. We work on 4 themed topics these are: Media Health Education Community Safety We also have a sub-group (action group) for UK Youth Parliament who are working on transport issues young people in Dudley filled out a survey (developed by Dudley Youth Service in partnership with us and others) asking them about their thoughts on different issues that affect them as young people. The following slides show what young people said about Community Safety.

44% of young people fear being attacked by groups of people (groups of young people and particular adults in an area).

6 in 10 young people feel safe when out and about (63.7% ) but the rest don’t.

70% of young people feel most unsafe at night and 18 % during the evening

The top 3 reasons young people feel unsafe are:  Fear of attacks  Crime  People who are drunk or on drugs

56% feel that crime is an issue in the local area but the rest feel that there is not. 52% of young people think violence is an issue in their local area.

36% of young people think that crimes in their local area are carried out by other young people.

17% of young people have been a victim of crime (and only 64% of these reported the crime). 15% have been a victim of violence (and only 52% of these were reported).

40% young people are unsure if the police or do not think that the police work well with them

65% don’t know who their local police officers/PCSO’s are and 28% of young people said they do.

Over half the young people have heard or experienced racism directly or know someone who has.

1 in every 20 young people carry or have carried a weapon (5.5%) and most do it to protect themselves

Some of these statistics are perceptions – they are how young people feel about their safety, the police and who they feel commits crime. We feel that these areas we have mentioned really need addressing.

Thank you for listening If you have any questions or comments or you would like a copy of our survey please speak to us in the break.