Crawley Police Chief Warns Councillors Of Social Media 'Rumour Mill'

Chief Inspector Ben Starns, of the Crawley Neighbourhood Policing Team, warned that unfounded rumours on social media often increased the fear of crime.

CI Starns spoke during a meeting of the overview and scrutiny commission on Monday (January 9) where a review of the work of the Safer Crawley Partnership was discussed.

The partnership is made up of representatives from the borough and county councils, Sussex Police, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, the probation and health services and a number of voluntary organisations, with the aim being to reduce crime and disorder in the borough.

Hazel Hellier (Con, Furnace Green) told CI Starns that she had received reports from residents about drug pushing, particularly around the Hawth Wood area.

Asking how councillors should tackle such concerns, she added that some people now felt it was a ‘no-go area’.

CI Starns urged her and other councillors to encourage people to report such incidents to the police – though he described the 101 non-emergency system as ‘very clunky’.

He pointed out that if he was unaware of an issue, he could not allocate resources – such as officers – to the problem, adding:

“The advice is report, report, report. I cannot have enough information.”

CI Starn told the meeting:

“We’ve actually had incidents reported on [social media] that the public have really got carried away with that hadn’t happened and didn’t exist.

“The ‘no-go’ area that people believe they can’t send their children to or they can’t go [to] is often perpetuated by rumour mills.

“If it actually is a no-go area I reassure you that police officers will go out and deal with it and we will be there 24-hours a day until that no-go area becomes a safe area.”

The Safer Crawley Partnership’s annual report showed that, in the year up to September 30 2022, total crime rose by 4.3 per cent (from 10,219 incidents to 10,656).

While crimes flagged as involving a weapon also rose (up 15.5 per cent from 290 incidents to 335), stalking & harassment, burglary, crimes involving domestic violence, and weapons possession all fell.

The priorities for the partnership in the coming year will be: serious and organised crime, the street community, protecting vulnerable individuals, business crime, and tackling violence against women and girls.

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If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use the textphone service on 18001 101.

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