The latest police reported crime statistics on Violence Offences for the Hemel Hempstead Constituency show an increase last year of 43% and over the last two years 1,276 more offences – a staggering 147% increase.

In a report published on the Internet, a breakdown by ‘beat’ (wards) reveals some interesting facts. Mike Penning, Conservative parliamentary candidate, today again called for more police and commented: “Out of the eighteen ‘beats’ in our Hemel Hempstead Constituency, sixteen of them show violence offences more than doubling over the last two years. Our hard working police officers can only do so much. There are just not enough of them. Having patrolled in the area with our police I have seen for myself just how over-stretched they are. The Police Authority are not planning for any more police officers in the county until after March 2006 and from their website I note that they have suspended new employment applications for regular police officers. We need more police on our streets now. We need to cut political correctness and police paperwork, end Labour’s early release scheme and if we need to build more prisons so be it.”