'Thieves swig beer outside the shop they've just raided' claim

Councillor David Boyes raised issues of open drug dealing, off-road bikes and brazen shoplifting in Easington Colliery, saying he wanted to see “the bad guys being frightened of the police again”.

He said thieves would sit outside a shop they had just raided and swig the booze they had stolen.

He spoke during a discussion of a proposed rise in the police precept, which people pay in their council tax, along with more officers, PSCOs, call handlers and tech.

The police and crime panel of Durham County Council would later vote 5-2 for the rise, meaning a £10-a-year increase for band D homes.

This equates to an extra 13p a week for band A homes and 19p for band D.

Cllr Boyes, who represents Easington, said: “It’s still an increase in the precept when we’ve had, as far as I’m concerned, a deterioration in service.

“And this is an increase on top of people’s council tax bills… fuel bills are going to go up massively and the cost of living’s going up. This is just another increase.

“I think people will accept increases if they can see that it’s being justified, but… we could say it hasn’t been justified.

Discussing incidents of thieves drinking outside the shop they had just raided, he said: “Now this to me is a certain degree of lawlessness.

“If these proposals are going to mean improvement in service and take us back possibly to 2019 and before level of service of the police, I’ll whole-heartedly support it.

“But I am very concerned and I am very frustrated, as are the residents who I serve and represent, that we have seen a major deterioration in police service over the last two years.”

Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Joy Allen replied: “What we are doing is a league table and Durham’s still top of that league table.

“Durham is still out there on top because it’s good or outstanding in nine out of the 12 areas.

“Durham is an outstanding force. We lost 400-odd officers however we’re still at the top of the league.

“But there’s a lot of work that we need to do.

“There’s a recruitment drive on. We need those police officers to come forward, to get trained so we can get them out on the streets.”

She referred to Operation Endurance, a campaign to tackle dangerous and antisocial use of off-road bikes and quads, saying the public had identified it as a concern.

She said they were working with councillors to get more resources like drones.

She added: “This is very much about delivering on what matters to the local public and also working very closely with members to make sure you can see the difference and delivering that plan.”

Cllr Boyes responded: “Other forces mustn’t be doing particularly well.

“Or it must just be Easington clearly where everything’s gone wrong.

“Because in Easington Colliery I can see a marked deterioration.

“You can say that we’re doing exceptionally well. But in my area we’re not seeing that.

“I think what we need is now some proper community policing.

“Let’s see if we can go forward away from the Covid situation and start seeing major improvements.”