More officers take to the streets to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence

Officers have been giving up more of their time to patrol the streets of Newark in a bid to address issues of anti-social behaviour and serious violence.

It forms part of the £1.5 million funding, known as the Hotspot Response Fund, recently granted to Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire from the Home Office, which will see increased uniformed patrols out in different areas of the county in 2024/2025.

PC Marcus Bloomfield, an officer in the Newark neighbourhood policing team and PC Ali Hussain from the Newark response team went out during the evening of May 17.

Both officers provided a visible presence on foot in and around the library gardens, Sconce and Devon Park, Hawtonville, the London Road car parks as well as in the town centre.

These are areas in Newark that have been identified by police and partners as having issues with youth related anti-social behaviour, including groups harassing residents and business owners through intimidating them or interfering with personal or public property.

Local issues include groups of young people riding their bikes on the roof of the local Co-op, playing knock and run on elderly resident’s doors as well as off-road dirt biking on pavements and in public spaces.

Measures to tackle this include dispersal and public space protection orders which police can use.

The initiative, which will run until 2025, will see officers spend two hours in the proximity of one area before moving onto another. This is based on academic studies from the College of Policing which shows that frequent and short patrols are most effective at reducing crime.

The hotspot patrols enable officers to focus solely on engaging with the public and addressing any problems businesses or residents may raise to them whilst they are out.

In the long term the scheme will help lower reports of anti-social behaviour through having more officers operating in peak times within each hotspot area.

The investment will also fund partner patrols from local authority staff such as community safety wardens and Business Improvement District (BID) patrol staff.

Areas will benefit from investment into problem solving activity as well as a dedicated youth outreach worker for areas that have particularly high levels of anti-social behaviour.

The project also aims to increase trust and confidence in the police and make people feel safer in the communities they live in.

Superintendent Heather Maelor, head of the Prevention Hub at Nottinghamshire Police and project lead, said:

“We have listened to the Newark community and know that youth related anti-social behaviour is an issue in Newark and its surrounding areas.

“Through providing a visible presence on foot in the streets of Newark and beyond, this shows that we will not tolerate anti-social behaviour and serious violence in Nottinghamshire and will continue to tackle this issue and protect our communities.

“By engaging with members of the public and businesses, we are considering the concerns of people in the local area and using this to inform how we combat these issues.

“We are looking forward to seeing the positive impact this government funded initiative will have in the coming year to tackle serious violence, anti-social behaviour and reduce offending in areas across the county.”

Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Gary Godden said:

“Targeted high-visibility patrols and local problem solving are the cornerstone of a good neighbourhood policing service.

“This additional funding will be a real boost to the coordinated partnership working that is already happening to make our neighbourhoods safer and I hope it will provide reassurance to local residents as we continue to build trust and confidence in our policing service.”