Donna Jones, Chair of the APCC and Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, responds to six-month progress update on Home Office's ASB Action Plan
“Following the government's launch of the ASB Action Plan in March, PCCs have hit the ground running to deliver meaningful change from this funding, targeting enforcement activity to where it is needed most.
Anti-social behaviour has a significant impact on people's wellbeing and their sense of safety. Early indications are that these initial pilots are delivering results, and the public are supportive of the increased access and visibility of police officers in their communities.”
APCC Vice Chair Alun Michael endorsed the work, saying:
“Both pilots emphasise the important role PCCs play in bringing local partners and criminal justice agencies together to tackle the issues that matter most to the public. We are committed to making the most of the opportunity to try out new approaches based on clear evidence of why problems have emerged in a locality and what will result in long-term improvements.
“The hotspots pilot enables us to apply long-term analytical methods to identify where anti-social behaviour is happening down to the most local microbeat level and to ask why. When the cause is clear we are then looking for the best way to tackle the causes which may involve council staff or youth outreach as well as PCSO engagement or police patrols - it's got to be the right solution for the specific local problem and not just random ‘walking without a purpose'.
“Through the APCC we will monitor the progress of the pilots and share insights to help with targeted activity to keep our communities safe.”
30,000 hours of extra patrols help reduce antisocial behaviour