Wells crime map - innovation or irritation?

Wells residents are now able to check crime

in their street thanks to a new government website, but is this use of

technology all it’s cracked up to be?

The crime map for Wells enables anyone to

see the reported crimes in their street whether it be the Market Place with its

surrounding pubs or a quiet residential area like Woodbury Avenue.

Various police forces have been mixed in

their reactions to the site with some welcoming how open and transparent their

work is, while others see the site as being misrepresentative of what they do.

Without doubt, the website allows us to see

what our officers and PCSOs are doing and see trouble spots to avoid.

However, one down side is that all the

crimes are boiled down to numbers – a murder would rate the same as a boy racer

being stopped for playing his music too loud, albeit they would be listed in a

different category.

Another downside is that this site is going

to affect property values – if you see the street where you are looking to move

to has a large amount of crime reported there you may think again or offer less

money.

The site ultimately is a valuable resource

but the figures must be taken in context. Do not panic if you see high number

in your area – but think, is my teenager one of those out there causing the

anti-social behaviour number to rise…