Police in Fareham are facing 'horrendous' crimes with a lack of resources, says MP

Suella Braverman, who has represented the area since 2015, spoke during a debate on policing and crime in the House of Commons.

Speaking to The News, the MP said the police were facing ‘horrendous crimes’ with a lack of resources due to the ‘painful decisions’ taken by successive governments.

She said: ‘I’m happy to admit there has been a serious issue of resources within the police, and we cannot keep scaling back

‘We inherited a basket case of an economy, and it’s taken painful decisions to turn that around – I think people do understand that.

‘At the end of the day, the people have put their faith in the Conservatives.’

Residents are concerned about the ‘slow’ response from the Fareham police team, the MP said in her speech on Wednesday January 29, with the area suffering ‘a spate of burglaries,’ including a break-in where a family lost more than £50,000 worth of jewellery.

She said: ‘Their house was ransacked when they went to the cinema one evening, and thousands of pounds worth of jewellery was stolen. They felt that their home had been demolished when they returned; they found this a traumatising and violating experience.

‘In Titchfield village, a beautiful and historic part of my constituency, where many elderly people live by themselves, there have been several incidents where properties have been vandalised late in the evening by antisocial youths.’

SEE ALSO: Jewellery worth £50,000 stolen from Park Gate home

But these high-profile incidents occurred as the crime rate across the Fareham constituency has fallen over the last three years.

In 2017, there were more than 700 crimes per month on average, falling to more than 570 across 2018, and more than 550 in 2019.

Hampshire police is due to see 156 more police officers, with Mrs Braverman saying she will plead for more patrols for Fareham.

She said: ‘I have nothing but praise for the police, and I will be undertaking unashamed lobbying to the police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Home Office to get Fareham the policing it needs.’