Silent Crime: 'Why the scourge of speeding and bad parking doesn't get reported in our city centre'

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Issues in like shoplifting, speeding and dangerous parking are not reported to police because the processes for doing so are too complex, a resident of Sheffield city centre has said.

Peter Sephton spoke to The Star for its ‘Silent Crime’ campaign and said the biggest thing he thinks is getting in the way of reporting minor offences is the difficult nature of reporting them.

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“I tried to report something online a few months ago,” he said. “I had to put in a long list of seemingly irrelevant details about me. Not something about what I was wanting to report.

Peter Sephton, a resident in Sheffield city centre, has said non-emergency reporting processes are too long and complexPeter Sephton, a resident in Sheffield city centre, has said non-emergency reporting processes are too long and complex
Peter Sephton, a resident in Sheffield city centre, has said non-emergency reporting processes are too long and complex

“Is it too complicated for people to be bothered with something like that? It takes too long.”

Mr Sephton said wait times for 101 - the non-emergency number for police - are also off-putting, as many who are walking through the city centre when they spot things may not have the time or energy to wait to report more minor offences.

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Making the reporting of non-emergency offences easier and less complex could potentially make a world of difference, he said.

There is a 20mph speed limit within the Sheffield ring road. Mr Sephton says this is often ignored by motorists, despite the high density of pedestrians and cyclists in the area.There is a 20mph speed limit within the Sheffield ring road. Mr Sephton says this is often ignored by motorists, despite the high density of pedestrians and cyclists in the area.
There is a 20mph speed limit within the Sheffield ring road. Mr Sephton says this is often ignored by motorists, despite the high density of pedestrians and cyclists in the area.

Mr Sephton says he knows police in Sheffield city centre try their hardest with the resources they have to deal with local issues, adding: “I saw one yesterday where they were taking someone out who had not been doing ‘legitimate shopping’.”

Despite this, there are a range of issues residents in the city centre have to deal with day-to-day which do not get reported, he said.

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“If we’re talking low level, one of them is parking,” Mr Sephton added. “People are parking on pavements or on double yellow lines, where people shouldn’t be parking.”

Motorists leaving their vehicles on public footpaths are also a nuisance for residents, he remarked.

“In many cases, the council wardens can deal with [dangerous parking], but they can’t on public footpaths. That has to be dealt with by police,” Mr Sephton said.

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Speeding is another issue proving incredibly problematic in the city centre, in his experience, with motorists ignoring speed limits posing a real risk to pedestrians.

He said: “It is supposed to be a 20mph speed limit within the ring road, but many motorists do not obey that.

“Police did some checks and 30 per cent of the people they were checking were exceeding those limits. We would love some more signs with smiley faces like we have in other neighbourhoods.”

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These issues largely go unreported, but Mr Sephton says residents are urged to inform police when they see it.

“The police say ‘if there is a problem please report it to us’. If things are rising up in numbers then it gets more priority.”

South Yorkshire Police response

Chief Superintendent Cherie Buttle said: "We always strive to provide the highest standard of service to members of the public in South Yorkshire when they pick up the phone and dial 101.

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"We are one of the busiest forces nationally when it comes to such calls, taking between 1,000 and 1,300 non-emergency calls on average each day.

"Despite the demand, our service has been improving over the past two years. Our 101 call abandonment rate has come down from 16 per cent to six per cent.

South Yorkshire Police said they have made great strides in improving 101 performance.South Yorkshire Police said they have made great strides in improving 101 performance.
South Yorkshire Police said they have made great strides in improving 101 performance. | Joe Giddens/PA

"And we are improving our 999 service too. Performance has gone from 78 per cent in January 2022, to 89 per cent of calls now being answered within 10 seconds.

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"In September, our average 101 call answer time was three minutes and 38 seconds. Twelve seconds was the median average, and 90 per cent of calls were answered within 11 minutes.

"Although our overall performance as a force is improving, we know there is still more to do - and we are not complacent.

"We are exploring new technology to help us improve the service we offer to the public and we have recently launched Single Online Home (SOH), which we are now fully live on along with 41 other forces.

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"I would encourage people to use this service wherever possible, but particularly during our busiest hours (10am to 6pm) so that we can keep our call handlers free to handle emergencies.

"The questions we ask members of the public reporting a crime to us relate to mandatory data that is required to effectively record crimes or incidents. This ensures we can respond effectively and better understand ongoing issues in our communities.

"It also means we can give appropriate advice to anyone reporting a crime.

"Be assured that by using SOH in a non-emergency, the information you provide us will be dealt with in exactly the same way as if you were to call us - but you won't have to wait."

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