Silent Crime: Home Secretary Yvette Cooper unveils 'mission' for safer streets amid rising street crime

The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper focused on moves to introduce new powers to respond to antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road bikes, with more neighbourhood police expected in communities.

The Government plans to bring forward legislation next year to introduce "respect orders", which are designed to ban persistent antisocial offenders from town centres, including for issues linked to public drinking and drug use.

An additional 13,000 police officers and PCSOs along with guaranteed local patrols are part of the Government's plans.

Ministers will also create a new standalone offence of assaulting a shopworker.

Ms Cooper's focus on the rule of law comes on the day a ban on owning zombie-style knives and machetes comes into force.

It also coincides with the Silent Crime campaign launched by the Star alongside our sister NationalWorld newspapers and websites. You can read more about it below.

The Government’s “mission” for safer streets follows a four-week amnesty scheme where owners were encouraged to hand the weapons in to police, local authorities or knife crime charities.

The Government plans to also ban ninja swords in the future, the weapon used to kill 16-year-old Ronan Kanda in Wolverhampton.

Ms Cooper, speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, said: "We know that security is the bedrock on which communities can come together, and on which the opportunities Labour has always fought for are built.

"You don't get social justice if you don't have justice.

"Respect is the very foundation of our democracy.

"Those Labour values are at the heart of all we do.

"And they are at the heart of our mission for safer streets too.

"Starting in towns and cities across the country where rising street crime has driven people from our high streets, corroding the fabric of our communities.

"This Labour Government will bring in new powers on antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road bikes and put neighbourhood police back on the beat.

"And yes, after years of Co-op and Usdaw campaigning, this Labour Government will introduce a new law on assaults on shopworkers, because everyone has the right to work in freedom from fear."

Ms Cooper also said disorder and violence should not "silence a serious debate" on immigration.

The Home Secretary condemned recent riots and disorder that broke out in parts of the country following a knife attack at a Southport dance studio on July 29 that left three girls dead.

Ms Cooper said: "Plenty of people have strong views on immigration, on crime, on the NHS and more, but they don't pick up bricks and throw them at the police. They don't set light to buildings with people inside. It was arson. It was racism. It was thuggery. It was crime."

The epidemic of Silent Crime

6,300 crimes go unsolved every day in Britain, according to latest Home Office figures.

The government data also shows that two million crimes went unsolved in a single year in the UK, while offences like knife crime and shoplifting soared in the same set of statistics.

The relentless daily criminality has promoted the Shropshire Star along with its parent company, NationalWorld and sister websites and newspapers across the country, to launch a campaign to give victims of the violence, thefts and anti social - that so often go underreported - a voice.

We are calling this epidemic Silent Crime.

Research shows that we only bother to tell police about four out of ten crimes. Add those two figures together and it is clear that the vast majority happen with absolutely no repercussions. And so they continue.

We want you to tell us incidents that have happened to you, your family or your friends in your neighbourhood; how it impacted you and what justice was served - or not.

Why don't we report every crime and why isn't the criminal justice system better at making criminals pay? It would seem to me that faith in the systems that should keep us safe is at rock bottom.

Most of this isn't the police's fault, a lot comes down to a social care system that has collapsed and politicians who have turned a blind eye for decades. That doesn't mean that urgent action couldn't and shouldn't be taken. It doesn't have to be this way.

To force change, we need to unite and remind ourselves that these 'little' crimes are not acceptable. You should be safe and feel safe at work, at home, in the park and in our own neighbourhoods. We need you to tell us your stories and we, on your behalf, will take them to Downing Street. We need to stop being silent and we need you to help us.

Contribute here for our Silent Crime Survey across the Black Country, Staffordshire and Wyre Forest or here for our Silent Crime Survey across Shropshire.