MANY of us have been the victim of one crime or another, but the fear of it happening and seeing its effects on others is in many ways worse than the act itself.

Tackling the issue of reducing the fear of crime in the district is a somewhat thankless task, but one which the Wyre Forest Community Safety Partnership is determined to succeed in carrying out.

Project manager DC Neil Jarvis, of Kidderminster Police, said: "Myself and others working on the scheme have a real challenge ahead of us because there is no definition of fear of crime, just as there is no standard procedure to deal with it.

"What makes the task difficult is the fact there are no statistics covering fear of crime, and therefore no targets we can set ourselves about reducing it.

"What we do have to do however, is to change people's perceptions about the issue and make them aware, especially elderly folk, about what is being done to help them."

Steps are now afoot to tackle fear of crime, after 600 respondents returned a Wyre Forest Community Safety Partnership questionnaire which was distributed in the summer of 1999.

DC Jarvis said: "It is also vital to raise a positive profile of today's youth, of which the vast, vast majority set good examples.

"Projects such as Lifestyle which goes on throughout the summer can be really beneficial to us as they show youth in a good light.

"Youth groups and clubs can also help us by publicising their successes and achievements more."

He pointed out three future schemes however, which he feels may have the biggest impact in reducing the fear of crime in Wyre Forest, and which are all expected to be underway next year.

The first are Cross Talk Programmes and a Youth Affairs Forum to be ran in partnership with the Wyre Forest Youth Service, and two youth shelters are going to be set up at identified areas to provide youngsters with a place to socialise.

DC Jarvis said: "We expect the Youth Affairs Forum to begin next month, and the first of two Cross Talk Programmes by April 2001.

"These will involve youngsters of varying ages meeting other members of the local community to talk about the issues of the day and to put forward ideas to improve quality of life, including reducing the fear of crime."

He added: "There should be two youth shelters up and running by April 2002, with the first one opening in April 2001.

"We are still looking at locations and costs, but this is something I look forward to with great optimism as the younger element will have somewhere else to go when they don't want to stay in their homes, but won't be in a position of conflict with other members of the public.

"Many folk associate seeing a group of teenagers together in a street as a sign of potential trouble, but this is very rarely the case, they are simply socialising outside of their homes but have nowhere to go.

"Kidderminster town centre, for example, is full of pubs, but does not have a cinema or many suitable social amenities for youngsters."

He said the survey had revealed Kidderminster town centre as being the most feared point in Wyre Forest, particularly at night-time, but this had also presented him with another interesting poser.

He added: "The youths we have spoken to also fear being attacked by older people coming out of pubs at closing time, and many said they walk about in a group because of this fear.

"This is why we need these meetings between the youth and older Wyre Forest citizens, as many older people would feel less threatened if they heard things such as this for themselves."

DC Jarvis also called on elderly Wyre Forest citizens to keep tabs on the issue with the police.

He said: "The survey told us social isolation was the main reason people felt they couldn't tell us about their fear of crime.

"Elderly people who live alone and are not visited by family or friends for days or weeks on end don't tell us of their problems.

"Many of these people only hear about bad news by reading and listening to news, which is invariably bad but on a national scale.

"They need to know Wyre Forest is one of the safest places to live, work and visit and by getting them involved in this issue I hope more of them will realise this."