More police on buses and trains to clampdown on transport ASB
Public transport users have been noticing a greater presence of uniformed officers across stations and stops throughout the North East, as part of Police Commissioner Kim McGuinness’ drive to cut down anti-social behaviour experienced by passengers.
To build further on her Safer Transport Northumbria project, Kim McGuinness has invested an extra £1million in ASB funding to cover high-visibility patrols and targeted intervention work, with a particular focus on the region’s transport networks.
In recent months, a programme of work to fight crime and stamp out nuisance behaviour has seen Northumbria Police officers team up with transport providers Stagecoach and Nexus to provide targeted patrols.
Other local communities that have also recently benefiting from targeted funding for a greater uniform presence on the streets include West Denton, Cramlington, Biddick Hall and Whiteleas.
ASB crackdown operations focus on increased policing presence in neighbourhoods, taking action against ASB offenders and working with local councils to tidy up communities.
The Police Commissioner has previously spoken out on how cuts to policing, public transport and councils over the last 13 years have had consequences, with rising ASB being one of them. She is now using ASB funding to help passengers feel safer when travelling, which she believes is an important step in helping the region to thrive.
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said: “We have been rolling out more patrols and officers have been delivering focused operations in busy periods and at key interchanges and stations. It’s getting noticed too. Kids are noticing there are more officers; they’re not hanging around the same in some of their usual sports as a direct consequence. What we are doing is working.”
Kim continued: “This all helps to address people’s concerns and improve overall feelings of safety. It’s so important we get our region’s transport right and fighting and preventing crime is a key part of it.
“ASB can make victims’ lives a nightmare, causing stress, worry and despair. We know it can often be a precursor to serious crimes such as knife crime and gang activity, so this heavier policing presence must be backed up with prevention work too and we are working with youth providers to get on top of this side of things too.
“We all want to love where we live, communities that are free of crime and disorder, and I’m determined to deliver this across the force area.”
A recent Safer Communities Survey by Northumbria Police found 95 per cent of respondents feel safe in their neighbourhood, however, young people causing nuisance in public places continues to be cited as one of the top public priorities.
Chief Superintendent Barrie Joisce, of Northumbria Police, said: “We recognise that the anti-social behaviour of a minority can have a significant and detrimental impact on the communities we serve.
“Tackling anti-social behaviour is a priority for the Force and every single day our officers carry out high-visibility patrols to proactively target hotspot areas and get ahead of crime trends.
“As ever, I’d like to thank our residents, commuters and businesses for their ongoing support and I hope this investment offers further reassurance that we have listened to their concerns – and are taking robust action to address them.
“Through effective partnership working, we can continue to make people feel safe, reduce pockets of disorder and ensure anyone involved in anti-social behaviour is dealt with swiftly and effectively.”
Interim Managing Director at Nexus, Cathy Massarella, said: “Extra policing on local public transport networks is a really welcome step and builds on the many new measures we’ve already put in place.
“Customers want to see more done about anti-social behaviour and can be assured that action is being taken to provide a greater uniformed presence on board buses, Metros and at stations. Safety and security is our top priority.
“Nexus invest £1m a year on Metro police every year, and we have spent a further £2m on dedicated security teams to patrol the network at night. Over the summer we launched a new text alert system so that customers can report issues more effectively to us. By texting ‘REPORTIT’ to us on 66777 you get through to the Metro customer service desk straight away.
“We have made great progress, and efforts will continue to reduce rates of anti-social behaviour across our communities, and the public transport networks that serve them.”