Over 500 households in East Marsh received a home safety visit and in most cases had a variety of security items installed to help them secure their home.
Empower CIC – based in the East Marsh – carried out the target hardening visits throughout the programme. Their trained staff – mostly ex-Police – paid visits to households to check home security and advise on improvements. They were also able to install equipment to both provide peace of mind and to practically improve home security.
Improvements could be a simple as a door chain or window lock; fixing a broken gate and supplying a padlock; or more extensive such as installing solar powered security lights.
Residents were able to self-refer or referrals were made through the wide network of partners involved in the Safer Streets programme including the Police and community organisations. Not every single referral resulted in an installation, but nearly 550 households within the target Safer Streets area did have a visit and some home improvements.
The team were also able to advise residents on how to access further support, information or advise from other agencies and were regularly signposting and referring to other support agencies.
The team were also able to provide hundreds of households with SelectaDNA marking kits to help mark personal possessions. Signage was installed around the East Marsh to warn that locally houses were marking property with SelectaDNA, and this service, whilst not being taken up in huge numbers, is a further deterrent to burglary in the East Marsh area.
Ongoing feedback and surveys demonstrated that everyone visited was hugely appreciative of the service and the equipment they received.