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PFCC announces further £1.6m investment to drive down anti-social behaviour in 15 Essex hotspots

Posted 14 October 2024

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex has announced £1.6m of new funding this year to drive down anti-social behaviour in 15 targeted hotspot areas of Essex.

The funding will build on the success of £1.1m of funding invested in 13 hotspots last year, which took place under the continuing name Operation Dial. This operation resulted in reports of anti-social behaviour dropping by 13 per cent across Essex, a statistic which drew national attention when highlighted up by the Government.

This money, secured by the PFCC, will be used for extra high-visibility police patrols, community safety patrols, youth outreach work and crime intervention projects in 15 hotspots across the county.

These hotspots, which include areas of Colchester, Southend, Basildon, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow, Tendring, Thurrock, Castle Point and Braintree have been identified by data built from public reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) to Essex Police and feedback from local residents and Community Safety Partnerships.

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “I’m very pleased to announce £1.6m is now available for a second year of targeted anti-social behaviour intervention.

“Our model uses data to identify areas of high anti-social behavior and then target those areas with funding support and resources in the form of patrols and community intervention.

“This targeted-action model works, it’s an investement in offering reassurance and building confidence in local communities as well as providing more opportunities to identify and pursue those responsible for crime and anti-social behaviour.

“This is why we always urge people to report crime when we are on our many public engagements across the county. We use your reports to identify areas in need of extra resources and then we target those areas. We can’t identify those areas or target resources without your reports.”

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet of Essex Police, the NPCC lead for anti-social behaviour, said: “We’ve been successful in driving down anti-social behaviour across Essex. That said, there is more to do, so the investment and focus on ASB will continue.

“ASB has more than halved in five years, and is down in every district in the county in the past 12 months. This shows our approach is getting results and making a real difference to people’s lives.

“ASB is not ‘low-level’, it damages communities. It’s unacceptable that anyone should feel intimidated or harassed in their own home or local area.

“Our officers have been a highly visible presence in the hotspots where residents have reported issues and we will continue to work alongside our partners in local authorities and other agencies to tackle offending and the underlying causes.”

In the past year, reports of ASB incidents fell in all districts of Essex.

The very latest figures show across Essex Police reports of ASB incidents fell by 8.7% in the 12 months to end of August (1,420 fewer offences). ASB reports have fallen by 65.6% since 2019 and 70.1 per cent since 2016.

Down by 19.1% in Uttlesford, 13.9% in Southend, 13.5% in Tendring, 11.2% in Basildon, 8.8% in Chelmsford, 7.9% in Harlow.

Over the past two years, ASB is down by 38% in Colchester and 32% in Thurrock.

A short video of Roger Hirst announcing the hotspot funding on Debden Broadway, one of the hotspot zones, can be viewed here: PFCC Roger Hirst announces new ASB Hotspot funding (youtube.com)

Note

The 15 agreed and identified ASB hotspots for the next year are: