Inside Essex Police's work to tackle anti social behaviour
Their teams have told us about work out and about in the Chelmsford district
Chelmsford Community Policing Team (CPT) have been out on patrol across the district as they clamp down on anti-social behaviour.
The district has seen a 32% drop in ASB in the last 12 months with 761 fewer offences recorded, and the team are determined to continue the downward trend.
Officers have been conducting high-visibility uniformed patrols and plain clothes deployments in the centre of Chelmsford, Melbourne, Beaulieu Park, Great Baddow, Hanningfield Reservoir and Rettendon.
Activity in Chelmsford city centre has been focussed on the bus station after reports of aggressive begging, and issues related to people using drugs and alcohol.
The team were joined on patrol by Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet, who is the NPCC’s lead for ASB.
At Chelmsford railway station, officers worked alongside the British Transport Police to hand out information about how to report anti-social or criminal behaviour.
Chelmsford city centre is covered by a Public Space Protection Order that could see anyone drinking alcohol in a way that causes other people distress or behaving in a threatening, abusive or aggressive manner landed with a £1,000 fine.
Officers have also been out in the Melbourne area of Chelmsford after a violent incident believed to be a targeted attack. Arrests have subsequently been made.
In Great Baddow, Beaulieu, Rettendon and Hanningfield Reservoir, work is ongoing to combat speeding and nuisance driving.
Inspector Sam Girdlestone of Chelmsford CPT said:
“As a community policing team, anti-social behaviour is one of our main priorities because we know the long-term damage it can do and the effect that it has on public confidence.
“The team has been out dealing with issues from nuisance pedal cycles through to drug dealing and violence related to organised crime groups.
“It’s important that we work closely with our partners in Community Safety Partnership to reduce ASB. We are quick to deal with public order offences as that behaviour can really affect businesses and people coming into the city centre.
“By enforcing the PSPO where we can and taking stern stance on how we deal with people in those areas, we are starting to see a reduction in offences.”
Insp Girdlestone also wants to encourage the public to continue reporting instances of anti-social or criminal behaviour when they witness them.
He said: “Any incidents need to be reported to us. You can call 101, contact us through the Essex Police website, or you can report ASB online through the council website.
“If the public tell us where they’ve seen issues, this gives us intelligence to work with and we can do something about it.”