Force needs more police officers - deputy mayor

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Kilvinder Vigurs has been answering listener questions on BBC Radio Sheffield

South Yorkshire's deputy mayor for policing and crime says the region's police force needs more officers.

Kilvinder Vigurs has been answering questions on BBC Radio Sheffield's phone-in alongside South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard.

She also spoke about knife crime, nuisance e-bikers, car theft and safety in city centres.

Read our takeaways from the hour below and listen to the full interview here.

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More police officers and PCSOs needed

"We don't have enough police officers, we don't have enough community support officers," she said.

"They are prioritising 999 calls, so the additional support is coming through neighborhood policing."

The deputy mayor said neighbourhood policing remained a vital service, adding: "People need to find out who their local police officers are and have those conversations, 'I had this bike stolen, there was CCTV, why wasn't it looked at?'

"They then can have a response directly from the police officer."

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Talk to your children about knife crime

Discussing the ongoing concerns about knife crime in the region, she said: "First of all, it has to be about prevention and working with young people to highlight those dangers.

"People often carry knives because they think they're going to be a victim, but they end up using it. So it's giving them alternatives like sports, music and creativity."

South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit says the region had the fourth highest rate of offences involving knives or sharp instruments in the country for the year ending 2023.

"Knife crime has gone down between 3% and 5%," she said.

"That's not enough, but year on year we've been seeing it go down."

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Victims of all crimes need support

Caller Victoria told the deputy mayor her family had recently had their car stolen and she felt the police had dismissed it as a low level crime.

She replied: "Calls to 101 are being answered in a much quicker time now and it's really important people do carry on reporting.

"If people have examples of where they have made that call and they haven't had a response it's really important for me to know and it is something that I can pick up with the senior command team."

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Illegal e-bikes crackdown

South Yorkshire Police have seized e-bikes doing speeds of 40mph during a recent crackdown.

"Police have confiscated over 200 e-bikes in Sheffield, so the police are doing some work," she said.

"A lot of e-bikes are illegal and shouldn't be on the roads."

She continued: "I feel for the police as they have removed 200, but there will be another 200 as every time we take one off, another one arrives.

"They are dangerous to pedestrians and to users and the police are working really hard to confiscate them."

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City centre protection order working

Discussing a new public space protection order in Sheffield city centre, she said: "Public space protection orders give officers a useful tool, particularly to be able to seize and dispose of alcohol which we know leads to anti-social behaviour.

"Officers have implemented the orders really fast - but we have to have wraparound services as these are some of our most vulnerable people involved in drugs and alcohol."

Sheffield city centre's public space protection order was breached over 2,200 times in its first six months.

She added: "It's about working with the council and charities.

"There's always more to be done, but this is a good news story."

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