Crime prevention hub needed for Houghton Regis in wake of fatal stabbing says councillor

A crime prevention hub should be established in Houghton Regis in the aftermath of a triple stabbing in which two people died, a local councillor warned.

Four men have been charged with murder after an incident in Tithe Farm Road, on November 13, which left a third man seriously injured.

A hub needs to be set up locally to focus “on crime in its entirety”, according to Independent Tithe Farm Central Bedfordshire councillor Pat Hamill.

In a social media post, he said: “I want all residents to feel safe on our streets and in their homes.

“We’ve a retail unit available which could be used as a crime prevention hub within All Saints View, easily accessible to the public. It’s an ideal location within a town centre setting which has seen its fair share of criminality.

“We desperately need a police presence, but we must start from the basics to hopefully persuade Bedfordshire Police to come on board at some stage.”

Councillor Hamill wants a police presence in the town, and support from other organisations.

These include CBC’s community safety team, Bedfordshire Street Watch, Neighbourhood Watch, Pubwatch, CCTV and “the wealth of volunteers we can hopefully tap into”, he explained.

“This would help man the hub to maximise the effect of deterring criminals, who burgle our homes and make our streets unsafe because of their criminal activities.

“South West Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous is pressing for police specials to be assigned to our town and offered his support to the list of those that can help in our fight against crime. Mr Selous will be speaking to the new Chief Constable.

“A record number of police officers totalling 1,465 is forecast by March 2023. We must tap into part of this increase. I ask when is our share coming to Houghton Regis instead of numbers being concentrated on the bigger towns of Bedford and Luton?

“This has to change. We must ask Beds Police to contribute by supporting a crime prevention hub in our town and by providing the foot soldiers to go with it.

“We wouldn’t expect the police and other groups to hang about for a crime to happen, rather to use the hub as a base so residents can be assured of a police presence.

“One of our community safety team trains volunteers to take intelligence reporting from the public. They would hopefully agree to a four-hour weekly rota to manage the hub and make it workable.

“With the focus on tenants and homeowners with CCTV, we could place them into an email network for important evidence gathering when crimes are committed in their area,” added councillor Hamill.

“The same would be for those with a video doorbell or dashcam footage. These technologies come with privacy and data protection laws, but we can be guided by the professionals how to manage that.

“The safety of residents is paramount. Together we can start to make our streets safe again in Houghton Regis.”

Both Bedfordshire Police and CBC have been asked to comment.