Speaking to BBC Look East presenter Susie Fowler-Watt, Nolan said: “Crimes and incidents associated with the Wethersfield site are very low.<\/p>\n
“Certainly, as far as I’ve seen, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to be concerned about criminality associated with migrants from the Wethersfield camp in Essex.”<\/p>\n
County council leader Peter Harris said: “Six trained security guards, two each in Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester, will provide a visible and reassuring presence on our streets, particularly for women and children. <\/p>\n
“Our message is simple: the safety of Essex residents comes first.”<\/p>\n
David King, a senior Liberal Democrat county councillor, previously said the scheme “risks divisions and community tension”<\/a>.<\/p>\n “It could only work if the security officers integrated with already established arrangements,” he said. “They won’t know the place, they won’t know the people, they won’t be connected up.”<\/p>\n Chelmsford City Council’s Stephen Robinson, who leads the Lib Dem-run authority, said: “I think it’s really important that we don’t create division and that policing is carried out by the police.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Conservative county councillor Lee Scott said: “We’re not opposing it, but we are in the future looking at it to see if it’s succeeding and making people feel safe.”<\/p>\n The government does not record criminal offences by immigration status, but according to analysis by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, external<\/a>, foreign nationals in England and Wales are convicted at roughly the same rate as British nationals.<\/p>\n The council said the trial was “a direct response to concerns raised amongst local residents – particularly women and girls – over gatherings of male migrants in town centres who were regularly transported in by bus from the former military airfield to spend their free time”.<\/p>\n “It intends to deter anti-social behaviour, provide reassurance to residents and businesses, and gather evidence about whether additional support may be required,” a spokesperson said. <\/p>\n