Leeds venues defend safety as police figures reveal bars and clubs with most crime reports

A Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request to West Yorkshire Police revealed the 10 licensed premises in Leeds with the most recorded crimes, from January 1 2019 to September 30 2019.

THE 10 BARS AND CLUBS IN LEEDS WITH THE MOST CRIME REPORTS REVEALED

West Yorkshire Police say the 'blunt' measure of crime often shows the bars and clubs which are the most diligent at reporting incidents and addressing drugs and violence on their premises.

Chief Inspector Richard Padwell, who heads policing for Leeds city centre, said: “We have a very strong and well-established partnership across our licensed premises in Leeds and we work closely with licensees to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and keep people safe in the city’s night-time economy.

“Since first being awarded Purple Flag status in 2016 in recognition of that work we have continued to develop and improve our approach in conjunction with the city’s community safety partnership Safer Leeds, the council’s Licensing department and other partners such as BACIL and Leeds BID as well as a range of volunteer groups.

“Raw statistics are always a fairly blunt measure of the challenges our licensed premises can face, and often the bars and clubs that are the most diligent in reporting incidents and working proactively with us to address issues, such as drugs and violence, are among those that feature most prominently in any ‘top ten’ focus.

"We always aim to take a wider, qualitative view of where the challenges are greatest and more attention is needed.

“Our police Licensing officers and officers from the City Neighbourhood Policing Team will continue to work hard alongside our partners and our licensed premises to make sure that the city’s vibrant night-time economy is as safe as possible for all to enjoy.”

“The main problem we have is people not knowing their limits"

PRYZM, the largest club in Leeds by footfall, unsurprisingly had the most recorded crimes in the nine month period.

More than 200,000 clubbers visited PRYZM over the nine month period, with 63 recorded crimes making up - meaning that 99.98% clubbers were not involved in any kind of crime.

The club's general manager, Gavin McQueen, said safety initiatives and the club's 'good work' often goes unnoticed in the face of crime figures.

Gavin said: "The crime figures don’t represent Leeds as a whole, or how safe it is.

“Looking at the scale of how many people we actually see, it’s a tiny number and not nearly as big as it could be."

The club launched its We Care initiative three years ago, offering free mobile charging points, customer care ambassadors, taxi escort services and access to a landline for clubbers who have lost their phone.

Onsite paramedics also offer medical care.

Gavin added: “We talk about crime a lot and work together to deliver safety initiatives, there is a lot of communication between venues at the top end of town.

“The main problem we have is people not knowing their limits.

“Also, when something is reported to police they often use PRYZM as a locater and police log the crime at the club, when really it happened outside.

“The whole area tries to operate safely and together, and the crime figures could be a lot worse than they actually are.”

Two busy Wetherspoons pubs among the top 10

Two city centre Wetherspoons pubs, The Hedley Verity and Beckett's Bank, were among the 10 licensed premises with the most recorded crimes.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We take onboard the report from West Yorkshire Police.

“Our staff work hard to ensure that customers can enjoy their visit to our pubs without any issues.

“Both The Hedley Verity and Beckett’s Bank are two of the busiest pubs in Leeds, and unfortunately, incidents will occur from time to time.

“We will redouble our efforts to ensure these are kept to a minimum.

“It is important to note that a number of the reported incidents are not directly linked to either pubs, but the pubs are given as locations if an incident happened nearby."

Manager of bar The New Penny, Jeff Armitage, said recorded crimes often start from the club's unofficial smoking area outside the venue.

He said: “We have very little trouble inside the venue, the majority comes from outside, spilling down from Call Lane.

“We seem to be an unofficial taxi rank, with two or three cars always parked outside waiting for customers. We have raised this with police.

“It is fair to say that some of the crimes start there definitely, the majority of the violent crimes are definitely from outside the venue.”

The Yorkshire Evening Post's Your Right to Know campaign is using Freedom of Information legislation and official data to take a closer look at how your taxes are spent and how the city's public organisations are performing. Email [email protected] to tell us about any issues you would like us to investigate.