35 arrests made in first three months of extra £1.1m Anti-Social Behaviour hotspot patrols

Posted on 20th October 2023   Over 2,757 hours of police patrols, and 1,400 hours of Community Safety Partnership patrols, have now been delivered in eleven anti-social behaviour hotspots which received investment from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in July. In July the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex announced an extra investment of £1.1 million in high-visibility patrols and targeted intervention to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in eleven hotspots across the county. The nine-month operation by Essex Police and Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) has seen a strong commitment to high visibility patrols, public reassurance, and pursuit of ASB. Operations include coordinated focused nights of action to target persistent behaviour and teams tackling issues such as littering, graffiti, fly-tipping, street drinking, and noise nuisance by issuing fixed penalty notices as well as verbal and written warnings. Across the eleven identified hotspots the 4,157 hours of patrols by Essex Police and Community Safety Partnership organisations have resulted in:

• 35 arrests
• 109 Stop and Searches
• 58 Informal Warnings issued
• 45 Fixed Penalty Notices issued

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex said: “ASB is a blight on our neighbourhoods and one that our communities in Essex feel very strongly about. “We have worked quickly to implement the Hotspot Patrols with Community Safety Partnerships across Essex and have been able to use our existing strong partnerships to deliver a visible presence and targeted ASB prevention work by both officers and partners. “We will continue to look at ways to enhance the impact we are having with communities and through our partnership approach have recently starting to commission youth services to undertake targeted interventions in hotspot areas. This innovative approach promises to further strengthen our interventions.” The funding is provided from central government as part of its Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy and is designed to deliver high visibility patrols, public engagement, targeted youth outreach and early intervention. The eleven hotspots were identified using the last five years of recorded anti-social behaviour incidents, feedback from the public and from partners in Community Safety Partnerships. Each area is tightly defined and now benefitting from extra police visibility patrols, council and partner patrols and robust enforcement of anti-social behaviour as well as engagement with local businesses and communities. The extra patrols provide a strong proactive problem-solving approach and are supported by strong communications and public engagement. The eleven areas are spread across nine districts:

• Clacton (Percy King Estate area)
• Colchester (Cowdray Avenue)
• Colchester (Greenstead)
• Chelmsford (Moulsham Street)
• Brentwood (Railway Square)
• Harlow (Stow Shopping Centre)
• Epping Forest (Debden)
• Thurrock (Lakeside including Chafford Hundred Station)
• Basildon (Elm Green)
• Southend (Maple Square)
• Southend (Southchurch Road)