'Trailblazing' new scheme to tackle anti-social behaviour launched in Nottinghamshire
The force is one of 10 chosen to trial the project.
A landmark new scheme's being rolled out across Nottinghamshire, in a bid to tackle anti-social behaviour (asb).
The Immediate Justice project will ensure people who commit asb or low-level offences are made to clean up local streets, work in soup kitchens or take part in other positive community activities, within days of their offence.
It will only be available to eligible first-time or low-level offenders and gives them an alternative to going to court or paying fines.
Nottinghamshire is one of ten ‘trailblazer’ areas across the country to receive funding to implement an Immediate Justice scheme.
Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry said: “Antisocial behaviour is a blight on our communities and has a real impact on people’s quality of life.
“Despite this, we know that a lot of offences go unreported. Through Immediate Justice, we are aiming to change this.
“Immediate Justice means we can deliver some extra resource to not only clamp down swiftly on antisocial behaviour, but also give the community reassurance that it is being dealt with in a very visible way.
“My main hope is that this will give people confidence to report antisocial behaviour in the knowledge that it is treated seriously and will be dealt with.”
The project follows the award of £2m from the Home Office to tackle antisocial behaviour and is set to run until the end of March 2025.
Chief Superintendent Sukesh Verma, from Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“Antisocial behaviour is a priority for us as we know the massive impact it can have on our communities.
“We fully support the Immediate Justice scheme as an additional outcome to put right the harm that offenders have caused to their local area.
“However, this is not the only tool to solve antisocial behaviour and those who continue to blight our communities can expect to receive a more robust approach.
“This can include Criminal Behaviour Orders, which will see persistent offenders banned from particular areas of the city and county to curb their offending behaviour.”