Police forces across England and Wales will receive at least £1m to carry out targeted anti-social behaviour patrols, starting from April. BBC News recently joined the Lancashire Police on a trial patrol in Brunswick, Blackpool, where a team of officers spent the last eight months building relationships with the community. Brunswick is a community of red brick terraced streets where half of those aged 16 and over are unemployed or economically inactive, and one in three children live in poverty.
For PC Danny Nelson, the friendly approach is a key element of “Operation Centurion,” and the officers repeatedly patrol the same small pocket of the town. One benefit of this approach is that the officers are horoughly familiar with Brunswick, allowing them to detect antisocial behaviour rapidly. One year ago, this area was a “terrifying” area. There were a minimum of four to five calls a day regarding youth anti-social behaviour. Residents have expressed their fear about leaving their homes and some have reported being scared to walk to their cars.
The patrols were piloted in ten different areas of the country, and between July and December 2023, the initiative helped reduce many types of anti-social behaviour. The figures for Brunswick showed that recorded incidents of theft dropped by 14%, and drug offences by 25%. A considerable reduction can also be seen in criminal damage, arson, and public order offences.
However, the initiative may not offer comfort to all victims of antisocial behaviour. Of the 10,000 victims championed by Victim Support last year, 81% were told that their experiences did not reach the lower threshold of criminality. This is due to the fact that neighbour disputes and verbal harassment, for example, are not always reported as crimes.
Ian, who lives 40 miles from Brunswick, is an example. He has lived with a “nightmare” dispute for over a year. Ian’s elderly neighbor screams abusive comments and bangs on the adjoining wall day and night. Ian’s ex-partner is no longer present, and he regular sleeps in the car to escape the noise. Although he has called the local police five or six times, Ian has been told that they are unable to respond, partly because of his neighbor’s vulnerabilities.
Initiatives such as Operation Centurion is essential, but does not necessarily address the major underlying issue of chronic antisocial behaviour affecting people’s lives in the long term but is not visible to the public. Beyond Centurion, some residents are calling for an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners bill, currently being considered by parliament, to provide automatic support to victims of non-criminal antisocial behaviour
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