THE views of 5,000 West Devon residents will directly affect the way the borough is policed for the next three years.
Police in West Devon are distributing a 'Fear of Crime' survey to 5,000 people selected at random from the 47,500 on the electoral register. They will also be eliciting the views of more than 60 agencies, such as parish and borough councils, schools, community housing groups, voluntary organisations, defence and transport police, CAB and so on.
Sgt Brendan Brookshaw, in charge of the exercise, is also aiming to get the views of 200 students at Tavistock and Okehampton colleges, plus youngsters not in education — an under-represented group according to Sgt Brookshaw — as well as ethnic minorities and gay and lesbian groups.
The results, when published in a month or two's time, will form the basis of the police strategy for the next three years.
The second part of the exercise will be to collate figures representing the reality of crime in the borough and compare those to people's perceptions.
Sgt Brookshaw said crime was exceptionally low in West Devon, but it was important the police and other authorities did not get complacent.
However, he said fear of crime in the area was very high and that had to be tackled too.
'If we have people staying in, or in any way moderating their behaviour, through fear of perceived crime, then they have become victims of crime,' he said.
As well as directing police activity, the audit will also enable them to work with other authorities to help reduce crime in, for example, installing street lights.