A police inspector says people should be encouraged to report more crime rather than simply sharing incidents on social media.

Acting Inspector James Beautridge, from Kent Police, says he wants to see more people actively reporting incidents.

His comments came as Gravesham council unveiled its collaborative strategy for tackling crime.

He told a panel of Gravesham Borough councillors: "We encourage people to report stuff because the amount of times things gets put on social media, we only find out about the crime that's been committed because it's gone on Facebook, it's gone on the local community Facebook group.

"Everyone's put their comments on there saying about the police, the council, but we don't even know about it, so we're on a back foot from the start justifying why we don't know.

"I'd always encourage the community to report it no matter how trivial people think things are, because sometimes what's trivial to the general populous isn't trivial to a person is it? It's affecting their life and their quality of life."

Gravesham Community Safety Partnership (CSP) was established in October last year and its members include the council, KCC, the police, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, the Police and Crime Commissioner as well as partners in the health sector.

The CSP carried out a consultation in February which identified how more than half of all respondents (55.4%) identified anti-social behaviour as their greatest priority with violent crime coming second.

Kent Police saw a 46.7% rise in anti-social behaviour in the borough and 43.1% increase across Kent last year; a document presented to councillors stated the numbers reflected reports of Covid-19 restriction breaches which are recorded within this category.

The draft safety strategy - which will bring the CSP up to 2024 - identifies several priority areas: violent crime including domestic abuse; persistent anti-social behaviour and violent crime; and the prevention of offending and re-offending.

The plan was presented to members of the council's crime and disorder scrutiny committee yesterday (Wednesday), during which Kath Donald, the manager of the partnership, said it would be a target-driven project with reports given to members during the year, and there would also be outreach events to engage with residents.

Cllr Baljit Hayre (Lab), chairman of the committee, said: "I think we all agree that this strategy is committed to the people of Gravesham; it's targeting crime and disorder that is important to local people and the community that we serve. It's making the community a safer place to live, work and visit."

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