Winchester Community Safety Partnership intends to combat ASB in their Summer Campaign
Last year's summer campaign against anti-social behaviour (ASB) was deemed a great success because recorded ASB levels continued to fall, rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour fell by 19.5% and criminal damage by 11.9%. This year a similar initiative will be running in the Winchester District, from Friday 1 April to 30 September 2011.
With the lighter evening’s and improving weather it is a great time to go out and enjoy all that the local area has to offer. Unfortunately this can sometimes result in an increase in reports of ASB which is often linked to large groups of people gathering in certain areas. A small minority do engage in behaviour that can escalate from ASB into criminal damage or more serious alcohol related ASB. This behaviour can impact on local communities and individual’s quality of life. To try and reassure the public a number of agencies have drawn up a campaign that aims to be robust in tackling and enforcing ASB, especially as it is a high priority for Winchester communities.
Winchester Community Safety Partnership (WCSP) aims to tackle the seasonal increases in ASB by:
· Providing increased patrols in hot spot locations on key days and times
· Encouraging positive and appropriate reporting of anti-social behaviour
· Working with local communities to identify local priorities
The Safer Neighbourhood Policing Teams have already started to send out letters which will go out to parents/guardians thanks to the support of local schools, aimed at raising awareness of the impact and consequences of ASB. The letter includes the message to parents or carers "Please try to ensure that you know where your child is, who they are with, and what they are doing during the Easter and summer holidays. Help the police to reduce ASB".
The Chairman for the summer campaign, Sgt Matthew Fancett, said, "Anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated within the Winchester district, and this year, we will be working hard with our community safety partners to identify, tackle and deal with any incidents that arise. We have a wide range of powers available to deal with ASB, and we will be taking a firm and robust line with behaviour which is unacceptable". He also stated "People of all ages become involved in ASB, and it is certainly not just the younger generation. We will be providing a consistent approach to dealing with anyone found committing ASB".
Sandra Tuddenham, Head of Community Safety at Winchester City Council, said, "Anti-social behaviour remains a priority for WCSP and we will continue to work with our partners to tackle this issue and reduce the number of ASB incidents. It is important to emphasise that listening to local concerns and working together to improve the issues highlighted by our communities is not something that we do only in the summer months, however this campaign supports a targeted approach that hopefully will show significant reductions in the number of incidents during this period".
If you witness or are concerned about any incidents of anti-social behaviour call 101, or in the case of an emergency call 999.
To find out more about the work of the Winchester Community Safety Partnership please visit www.wdsp.co.uk/communitysafety