With fewer police on the beat, locals up and down the country are turning to private security firms to keep them safe
THE days of relying on your local bobby to keep your streets safe seem to be well and truly over.
Instead, desperate Brits are paying as little as £1-a-month for almost a quarter of a million private policemen to patrol the streets, tackling everything from race hate to stolen puppies.
This week, Sergeant Simon Kempton, of the Police Federation provoked outraged with the suggestion that victims should carry out their own investigations and track down stolen possessions themselves.
In some parts of Britain, 78 per cent of crimes aren't investigated while in leafy Tiverton, Devon, arrests have plunged since the only cell at the police station has been removed.
Unsurprisingly some Brits are taking matters into their own hands.
Here, Sun Online goes across Britain (from Somerset villages to Yorkshire towns and shiny Kensington streets) to meet the people who feel the police can no longer protect them - and the vigilantes making a tidy living filling the void.
In the south Middlesbrough area of Linthorpe, where Alan Taylor lives, private security firms are being hired in an effort to control the rising cycle of violence thanks to police cuts.
Alan, 69, lost more than a pint of blood after he was attacked by two 10 year-old boys, who dropped a ride-on tractor 30ft onto his head. The pensioner was left needing stitches after the daylight attack last month.
According to Alan, his experience is a harrowing indication of police cuts and rising violence nationwide.
He said: "I've seen that vigilantes and private security are trying to plug gaps in the police's work.
"I never see police on the street anymore. Crime seems to be getting worse across the country."
The statistics bear this out: crime rose by 14 per cent last year while police has dropped by 19 per cent since 2010.
Louise Wright, 39, was shocked to find the police completely disinterested when her front windows were smashed at 4am by a thug with a crowbar while her four children slept upstairs earlier this month.
She said: "It was terrifying, my children were in bed and we were left with our nerves in tatters. I called the police and they took the details but never sent anyone to investigate.
"It felt as though I'd been brushed off and so many people around here feel the same.”
With local bobbies no longer taking the lead, households like Louise’s in the "forgotten" estates east of Middlesbrough, North Yorks, have given the job to local hardman and former Army boxer John "Winky" Watson.
For as little as £13-a-year, Winky Watson’s JWS Security firm has practically become another 999 emergency service for worried residents.
He promises to get results for victims — whether they've had their windows smashed, bikes nicked, been assaulted or even subjected to racial hatred.
The security firm offers a bronze package at £54 per year which includes random patrols outside homes, two large and two small JWS stickers to place on your doors, windows and garage to act as a deterrent and a call-out service during working hours to investigate any break-ins or incidents of stolen goods.
They can also provide holiday security with homes patrolled three times a day at random times and once in the middle of the night, including physical checks of both the front and back garden.
"I’m not a vigilante, I’m a businessman," said John Watson, who says he doesn't use force against criminals but polices the area under strict contracts with his clients.
“When you have these little creatures kicking your doors at night or scratching your car, I will be straight there to prevent that - and you can’t always say that with police,” he said. “I’m a professional set-up. I don’t beat anyone up, I don’t do anything like that.
“But I’m well known in the area and I’m always getting texted about stuff. I’ve got a good reputation and that’s enough.”
Louise is certainly enamoured with his service.
"John is someone who gets things done,” said Louise. "He's become the person people are turning to because he does the things the police aren't bothering about any more."
Nearby, in East Cleveland, police take no action for as many as 78 per cent of crimes. And Watson and his security firm are taking full advantage.
"People's lives were being badly affected by one troublemaker and his cronies and nothing was being done,” said local shop worker Sarah Templeman, 45.
“My daughter's boyfriend had his work van broken into and his tools and snooker cue stolen. One of these yobs was seen with the cue the following day on his way to Middlesbrough so we contacted the pawn shops to warn them.
"Sure enough his £300 cue had been sold for a tenner to buy drugs. We knew which shop and we knew the culprits were on CCTV. The police did nothing and he ended up having to buy his own cue back for £10. When that happens your faith in the police disappears.
"Winky’s firm said they could protect our homes and do patrols. It has brought peace of mind and a lot of people signed up."
Gillian Thomas, 50, whose husband Sean runs a building firm, also pays Watson for protection.
She said: "The whole village was sick of what was happening. It was going on night after night — theft, criminal damage anti-social behaviour and threats."
Watson’s firm is happy to take on any crime, however serious. One resident — too scared to be identified — contacted his firm after suffering racial threats and intimidation, including having his windows smashed.
The victim said: "The police never did anything. But I know that if I call Watson’s company I'll have someone round quickly and he has my back."
"People were peering through the curtains in fear. The elderly didn't dare go out," says Ross Smith, 40, from Redcar.
"There were daily thefts and burglaries. Youths were racing around the streets and pavements on motorbikes.
"People's lives were being ruined because the troublemakers thought they were untouchable."
But once Watson was hired, everything changed. Mr Smith said: “The area has quietened down. There isn't the same sense of fear. He's a bloke who commands respect and is getting results the police couldn't achieve."
Speaking earlier this year Watson said: "We stop break-ins, burglaries — the other day we got two stolen puppies back for a bloke robbed at knifepoint.
"My service is better than the police — that’s why people pay me. As soon as [criminals] see my van they scarper.”
But it’s not just less well-off areas of the country feeling the need to hire extra security.
While JWS security might deal with knives and crowbars, in the more genteel streets of London the private police force TM Eye has started a service called My Local Bobby, led by former Scotland Yard officers.
For a subscription starting from £50-a-month, it provides uniformed staff to tackle anyone found littering, urinating, doing drugs, stealing or acting suspiciously on the crescents and squares of upmarket Belgravia, Mayfair and Kensington.
They can make citizens’ arrests or conduct surveillance operations and clients receive a bespoke service with a hotline number to their “bobby”, whose location they can track on their iPad.
In two years, the agency has reportedly achieved more than 400 convictions for fraud, intellectual property theft and other offences.
Further west, in the quaint village of Martock in Somerset, a private security firm is now dealing with a growing anti-social behaviour problem and an over-stretched police force.
Between September 2017 and August 2018 there were 543 reported crimes in Martock. Fifty-nine per cent of them are still under investigation and no further action has been taken in 36 per cent of cases.
In May, the parish council hired Atlas security to patrol the village in the evenings after residents got fed up with the police being unable to protect them.
Spirit Wright, 58, of Atlas Security, said: “The people of Martock are obviously sick of it. They've had enough.”
Their role is to be visible presence on the streets as a deterrent.
Spirit said: “Nine times out of 10 if they see the car pull up and see us get out its normally enough to scare people away and calm the situation down.”
Sun Online went out on patrol with Spirit and his young colleague, 21-year-old Sam Whitehall.
While we walk the beat a lady comes up to Spirit and Sam: “It's good to see you in town — this is the first time I've seen the police in Martock. ”
Spirit explains they are actually private security.
He says: “We have the same powers as a PCSO. We can make arrests. But only detain the person and hand them over to the police for a formal arrest.
"Anyone can make a citizen's arrest. We do carry handcuffs. We are trained to use them. But it's a last resort.”
Parish council chairman Neil Bloomfield said the village had “significant problems” with anti-social behaviour and the Parish Council started with a six week trial back in April at a cost of £360 — a trial that has been extended several times since.
The enforcement officers have been tasked to patrol “problem areas” within the village such as the shopping area and car park.
But Mr Bloomfield expressed concern over the long-term viability of using private security.
He said: “We have already spent more that £1,000 on this.”
But Martock's Parish Clerk, Adam Persson, 52, believes the private security patrols are working wonders to solve the issues.
He said: “It has done its job which is deterrence, and they provide intelligence to the police. We've had nothing but positive responses from people.”
But some people have complained that they already pay their taxes and the police should be doing their job.
Mr Persson said: “The parish is paying again for something the government already provide but as provision is withdrawn, the people of Martock have stepped in to fill that gap.”
Richard Pippin, 63 and Alison Baker, 46, who run the Martock Chippery take away, which was recently robbed believe it is a price worth paying.
He said: “We used to get cars burned out every night, years ago, it was terrible. But that's stopped.”
Assistant Chief Constable Jason Harwin, from Cleveland Police, however, has a word of caution about relying on a private police force: “Individuals won’t have the powers, training, accreditation and equipment to perform the role that police are empowered to do.
"If members of the public are concerned regarding issues in their communities it is important they report it. They can do so in confidence on 101 or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
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