CI Jason Wells

Blog: It is my job to manage the Telford & Wrekin Division’s Local Policing Teams — the police officers and Community Support Officers (CSOs) who play a critical role in dealing with anti social behaviour (ASB), writes Chief Inspector Jason Wells from West Mercia Police.

I am pleased to say that most people in Telford aren’t commonly affected by anti-social behaviour, however, of the incidents reported to the police, it is one of the most frequent.

Anti-social behaviour can include almost anything, from littering and fly tipping to loud music and intimidating groups; from drunken and rowdy behaviour to dogs barking. It’s fair to say the reports we get vary, from minor inconvenience for some, to real long term misery for others.

So, with the many different forms that anti-social behaviour can take, the police cannot and do not tackle it alone. We work with many different people, in particular, parts of the local council such as social services, schools, housing, environmental health, drug and alcohol workers etc, as well as other agencies including magistrates and the Probation Service.

We are also trying to make further improvements and at the moment we are setting up a new anti-social behaviour unit which will see the police, the council and Wrekin Housing Trust all working together out of the same building to deal with those people who cause the most nuisance.

Working like this will mean being able to use separate agency powers to improve the places where we live and work, with all the agencies understanding what the others are doing, when they are doing it, and why.

Working from the same building also means that officers in the ASB Unit won’t have to wait for meetings or additional telephone calls to act, but can do so together, far more quickly, using Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Parenting Contracts, Tenancy Agreements and environmental health powers for example.

In relation to teenagers we will continue to use early interventions and these are generally very successful. Early intervention means that we go and visit those individuals causing problems and give them a formal warning (in front of their parents) which often stops the problem continuing. Where this doesn’t work, we will refocus our work and look at utilising some of the other powers I mentioned earlier.

Solving anti-social behaviour can be difficult, because it is sometimes about perception. For example, I can recall dealing with a lady who was very cross because children were playing tennis on the tennis courts nearby as she felt this was anti-social.

As it would easily be argued that they were actively involved in sporting activities in a public area and not causing anyone any harm – would it be right for the police to move these children on just because someone had complained? As a parent I would certainly raise an eyebrow if my children came home saying the police approached them and moved them on because they were playing tennis on a tennis court.

However cases like this are generally the exception, and for the lady in question, we took her views seriously, and were able to come to an agreeable solution for all involved.

This is what local policing is about: understanding the problem and trying to come up with a workable solution. However, to do this we need people to tell us what the problems are and, if you can, who is causing them. Your local policing team will try to deal with the specific issue there and then (if they can), but if not, will look at a longer term answer, often using other agencies (such as the council) to help.

Some of the problems can be complex and take some time, but many are dealt with quickly and quietly, don’t attract any headline news, and allow people to get back to living their lives. And although we haven’t solved all of Telford’s anti-social behaviour, the feedback that we are getting from the public about what we are doing is generally good.

For further details, the West Mercia Police website (http://www.westmercia.police.uk/localpolicing/) has plenty of information about crime, nti-social behaviour, how to contact your local policing team and details of the local PACT (Partners and Communities Together) events.

Alternatively you can also contact West Mercia Police on 0300 333 3000, or the council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Officer on 01952 380000 if you have issues about ASB that you’d like to bring to our attention.