Incidents of violent disorder in public places can make people feel unsafe when going out for the evening. The reduction of violent crime is therefore very important to the Safer Arun Partnership.

The latest public consultation survey published in March 2009 showed that 94% of respondents felt very safe or fairly safe when going outside in Arun during the day; and 54% said they felt very safe or fairly safe when going outside after dark. This is up from 83% and 37% respectively in 2007.

The Safer Arun Partnership is supporting a variety of schemes to reduce the number of violent incidents in public, raise awareness of the Partnership and make people feel safer when out and about. Current initiatives include:

• Working with licensees through the Pubwatch scheme to tackle those causing trouble in licensed premises and training door staff to improve the way they deal with problems.
• Supporting the operation of the Arun Angels who provide help, support and advice for those who become vulnerable while out in the evening in the town centre.
• Supporting the taxi marshals in Bognor Regis to ensure people looking for transport home can do so in a safe environment.

Much of the public place violent crime is alcohol related and connected to the night time economy. In nearly half of all violent incidents, victims believed the offenders to be under the influence of alcohol. The Safer Arun Partnership is therefore also delivering a number of initiatives to raise awareness of the consequences of binge drinking and the impact on long term health.

In June 2006 Arun District Council introduced an Alcohol Designated Public Places Order under the powers of the Criminal Justice Act 2001. This is often better known as an Alcohol Restriction Zone. This does not prevent people drinking in open spaces if people are behaving responsibly, but provides police officers with the power to confiscate alcohol from those who are creating nuisance, disorder or annoyance to the public.

More details about this order can be found on the Arun District Council website.