Extra patrols in Sunderland as part of tackling anti-social behaviour
The council is marking Anti-Social Behaviour Awareness Week
Last updated 19th Nov 2024
Extra patrols will be out and about on the streets of Sunderland this week, raising awareness of anti-social behaviour, what the council is doing to tackle it and how to report it.
The patrols are just some of the activities taking place across the city to mark this week's Anti-Social Behaviour Awareness Week.
These include visits to schools to talk about motorcycle disorder, estate walks in Pallion and Pennywell and other areas across the city including the city centre, Easington Lane and Houghton.
The council’s ASB officers will also be attending a number of community and partner meetings throughout the week as well as working within communities to serve Community Protection Warnings or Notices to identified perpetrators of anti-social behaviour.
New figures, released to tie in with this week's Anti-Social Behaviour Awareness Week also show the significant impact that award-winning projects such as the city centre SAIL project, Southwick's SARA project and Hetton's HALO project have had on reducing anti social behaviour in these areas.
Councillor Kelly Chequer, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Safer Communities at Sunderland City Council, said:
"The theme of this year's Anti Social Awareness Week is Making Communities Safer.
"As a council we're committed to tackling anti-social behaviour. We understand that safe communities are a priority for our residents and also the long-lasting impact anti-social behaviour can have on both victims and communities."
Councillor Kelly Chequer added:
"We work closely with key partners across the city all year round to tackle anti-social behaviour. These include the police, health, education, youth offending, probation, Gentoo, as well as businesses, community and voluntary organisations.
"This has led to some real successes, with award winning multi agency projects such as the SAIL project in the city centre, the SARA project in Southwick and the HALO project in Hetton, really helping to drive down anti-social behaviour and in particular youth anti-social behaviour.
"So we're immensely proud of the work they do and the difference that they have made in the communities they work in."
In Hetton, the HALO project has seen a 12% reduction in overall incidents of ASB and 3 per cent drop in youth ASB in the last 12 months.
In Southwick, the SARA project has seen a 21 per cent drop in neighbourly disputes and an 18% reduction in motorcycle disorder over the same period. While in the city centre overall youth ASB is down by 17% and youth ASB by 48%.
As part of its work to tackle ASB, Sunderland City Council also works closely with the police and South Tyneside Council to tackle nuisance motorbikes.
Speaking about her role with the Motorcyle Disorder Team, Kaitlin Lackenby, who is an anti-social behaviour officer with Sunderland City council, said:
"As part of my role I'm co-located with officers from Northumbria Place and South Tyneside Council and we tackle all elements of motorcycle disorder from general ASB to theft. Then we take enforcement action against those who we identify as committing those offences.
"We organise days of action in areas where we see a lot of motorcycle disorder and that's down to residents reporting into us that they're suffering with motorcycle disorder in that area. I think roles like ours are very important because the police can't be out there all the time and so we try to be out there just as much as we can."
The City Council is also encouraging people take the time to report ASB where they come across it.
Cllr Chequer added:
"It's really important that we all work together to tackle ASB, so I would urge anyone who does come across it or has information that would help us identify those responsible reports it."
To report anti-social behaviour, visit: Anti-social behaviour - Sunderland City Council