January 4, 2011 9.51 am This story is over 157 months old

Police joins pilot to tackle anti-social crime

Tackling yobs: Lincolnshire Police is one of eight forces in the country to pilot a new anti-social behaviour strategy.

Lincolnshire Police will be one of eight forces across the country to take part in a project to help vulnerable victims of anti-social behaviour.

The pilot will last seven months and aims to change the way the force responds to reports of anti-social behaviour in the county.

This will include a new system of logging complaints and improving the use of IT to share information and to identify and protect vulnerable victims.

The trials, in Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London, South Wales, Sussex and West Mercia will run from January to July 2011.

As previously reported in The Lincolnite, anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a big problem in Lincoln, according to CrimeMapper figures.

More than 4,000 cases of anti-social behaviour were recorded from January to August 2010, making ASB is one of the most widespread crimes in the city.

Crime Prevention Minister James Brokenshire said: “Antisocial behaviour ruins lives, damages our communities and, at its worst, can have tragic consequences.”

“It is essential those who raise the alarm and ask for help are listened to and their complaints acted upon promptly,” Brokenshire added.

“The technology exists to allow agencies to introduce a smart way of handling such complaints and a simple way of sharing information—they need to use it.”

Association of Chief Police Officers lead on antisocial behaviour, Assistant Chief Constable Simon Edens, said:

“The police service recognises that all individuals and communities have a right to live their lives free from intimidation, harassment and any other disorder that may damage their quality of life.

“The pilot in eight force areas will focus on improving handling and logging of complaints as well as looking at improvements to IT systems to ensure information from partners is shared more easily.

“The results of the pilot will help us shape a more consistent approach to dealing with the policing response to local concerns as well as developing our links with partners,” Edens explained.

“This is particularly important to ensure that those at the greatest risk of harm are quickly identified and an effective response is provided. The results of the pilot will help to shape a more consistent national approach to dealing with the policing response to local concerns.

Keith Smy, Assistant Chief Constable for Lincolnshire Police explained: “In Lincolnshire we have, for many years been working effectively with other agencies and organisations to continually improve and develop the way in which we tackle anti-social behaviour.

“Our partners and local communities already do an enormous amount of work with us, helping with the reporting and resolving of issues and concerns.

“Lincolnshire’s participation in the Home Office pilot enables us to share our best practice, as well as to take on board new ideas and improvements.

“I am confident that the procedures we have in place in Lincolnshire, and the national emphasis on streamlining processes, procedures and information sharing will serve to increase the effectiveness of how this distressing and harmful crime is dealt with both within our county and the country as a whole.”

Source: Home Office | Photo: Graham Lord/Lincolnshire Police | Related Report: BBC News