Antisocial behaviour reduced after targeted action in neighbourhood

Antisocial behaviour has been reduced in a city neighbourhood after it was declared a priority by officers.

Neighbourhood police in the city south area identified the issue as one of their three priorities last year after listening to concerns raised by residents and community leaders.

Inspector Steve Dalby, who was appointed neighbourhood policing inspector for city south in April 2023, has allocated extra resources to tackle the problem.

Measures introduced include targeted patrols in known hotspots for nuisance behaviour and associated crimes like begging, shoplifting and drug offences.

The work has now seen reports of ASB incidents decrease by 7.8 per cent between January and December 2023 compared to the previous 12 months in city south – which includes St Ann’s, The Meadows, The Dales, Mapperley and The Wells and Clifton.

Insp Dalby said:

“I made antisocial behaviour a priority for my team after consulting with residents, councillors and our partners.

“It was made very clear to me during these discussions that nuisance behaviour was having a detrimental impact on residents across the city south area.

“It’s pleasing to see some of the measures introduced are yielding some promising results. However, we are never complacent and realise there is more to be done.

“Some people in the neighbourhood are still being impacted by antisocial behaviour and if they are I’d urge them to contact the neighbourhood team so we can respond.

“We are also working hard on the city south’s other two main priorities which are drugs and acquisitive crime.”

A recent operation in the St Ann’s and Mapperley area has seen high-visibility patrols introduced to target all three priorities.

The team has also carried out a number of raids to target drugs supply and continued its work to cut shoplifting offences.

Officers introduced a new initiative to combat retail crime in The Dales, Clifton and the Meadows  which combines high-visibility patrols and covert security in stores

Patrols by uniformed officers and pop-up beat surgeries are taking place regularly around hotspots for retail crime to provide reassurance to staff and shoppers.

There have also been a number of important arrests and use of criminal behaviour orders to ban repeat offenders from shops and areas.

Insp Dalby said:

“I’m pleased our tactics are already yielding some excellent results in all our priority areas. Officers are finding themselves in the right place at the right time to make important arrests.

“We want to do our bit to make all the communities in city south vibrant places where people want to live and work.”

Nottinghamshire Police is focusing on the work carried out by police in the community this week as part of neighbourhood policing week of action, which runs from 22 January to 28 January.