'Please help us to protect our people and our reputation by investing in more officers and PCSOs dedicated to Derby'

COUNCIL LEADER WRITES TO HOME SECRETARY OVER CONCERN

- By NIGEL SLATER

THE leader of Derby City Council has raised deep concerns over policing numbers in the city and called for more officers to be employed in the county.

Councillor Nadine Peatfield has sent a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper following serious incidents in the heart of the city centre including a man being stabbed to death inside a bank and a daylight robbery at a pawnbroker's shop.

There was another fatal stabbing in Littleover in June and it was reported earlier this year there had been five stabbings in 12 days in Derby.

The Labour councillor addressed a full council meeting last month saying she was going to request more police officers to serve the city. She said violence would not be tolerated but also said the incidents were symptoms of wider societal challenges and that "decades of austerity have taken their toll".

The serious incidents have reignited conversations and debates around people's safety in the city centre which has been a long-running concern with businesses pleading for help two years ago.

Despite more funding to install CCTV cameras around the city centre, the council leader said the city's policing is under-resourced and needs urgent attention.