NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING

The current financial situation could mean our partners withdraw some of their services to meet their budget shortfalls.  A total review of our neighbourhood policing services will try to ensure that partnership working continues to meet your demands, for example, youth services.  We have agreed to increase the capability of the Lifewise Centre to be used as a centre of excellence for young  people which will not only deal with safety issues but will look at opportunities to enhance training and qualifications for young people. 

The Government has agreed to maintain funding for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) for the next two years which will ensure that they continue to provide a visible presence in your communities.  PCSOs will continue to tackle such issues as antisocial behaviour and criminal damage in your local areas and deal with it in the robust way which you are used to and expect.  The exact numbers of PCSOs will need to be determined once we clarify the level of external funding from local authorities.  The reduction of antisocial behaviour and criminal damage offences by 19% in the last year can be attributed to the ongoing valuable work of PCSOs.

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

This is any aggressive, intimidating or destructive activity that damages or destroys another person's quality of life.

Why is this important?
From our most recent local survey (‘Your Voice Counts’, Jul – Sep 2010), 38% of respondents thought that antisocial behaviour was a fairly big problem in their area compared to 41% the previous year.  Whilst we have seen improvements, we recognise that there is still a high perception of antisocial behaviour amongst certain communities.   We understand that for a minority of you, experiencing antisocial behaviour is not a one-off occurrence.  We want to put a stop to this by fully using the powers available to us, and to support you through this process. 

How we will achieve this?

We will try to make it easier for you to tell us about these incidents and make sure your feelings and experiences are at the forefront of our contact with you at all times.  We will improve the way we respond to repeated incidents and for those of you who are particularly vulnerable, to make sure you are safe.  We will also continue to develop our IT system to make sure we continue to share relevant information with our partners which should improve our service to you. 

Please enter your postcode into www.police.uk to see the crime and antisocial behaviour that has happened in your area and to find contact details for your safer neighbourhood team.