Newark neighbourhood policing team keeping the heat on anti-social behaviour this summer, with help of Safer Streets initiative

A summertime initiative is to enhance the work of police in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in Newark.

Newark is one of 10 Nottinghamshire locations to benefit from the Safer Streets Summer initiative, a national campaign seeing police and crime commissioners and police forces lead coordinated action to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in key areas over the summer months.

The collaborative approach will see more visible patrols, engagement, targeting of prolific offenders, and beat surgeries — and Nottinghamshire Police and Crime commissioner Gary Godden and temporary Chief Constable Steve Cooper have already joined the Newark neighbourhood policing team for a public trust patrol, to hear residents’ and businesses’ views on anti-social behaviour.

Inspector Charlotte Ellam, District Commander for Newark and Sherwood, said: “The focus will be on visibility through the town centre, with regular patrols and days of action.

“Summer is typically when we see a peak in demand, and Safer Streets will enhance what we are already doing.”

Street crime and anti-social behaviour — often seasonal issues which can increase in the warmer weather as more people are out and about — have been selected as priorities for the neighbourhood policing team for this quarter, continuing on from last quarter’s priorities of anti-social behaviour in Newark Town Centre, and in parks and open spaces.

Positive action has already been seen in tackling this issue, with the Safer Streets work to feed into officers’ continued efforts.

Key areas of concern at the time of setting the April to June priorities were the church gardens, which had seen issues with street drinking, and young people behaving anti-socially around London Road carpark.

While the inspector said the force was “still getting reports of issues in these areas”, it had not seen a flare up.

Officers have provided increased visible patrols to deter offending in the town centre, and engaged with staff at Odeon and McDonald’s — and their work has also resulted in a number of people involved in anti-social behaviour being identified and referred to the anti-social behaviour panel.

This is a collaborative system aimed at redirecting young people into meaningful activities and teaching them about how their behaviour affects others, before escalating to enforcement action if other interventions do not prove effective.

Inspector Ellam added: “We also took part in Newark and Sherwood District Council’s school safety event, where we delivered bespoke workshops about anti-social behaviour, exploring the impact it can have on other people, what action the police might take, and how to report incidents.

“We also held another about wildlife crime, which can often link in with anti-social behaviour. These sessions reached over 900 children.”

Going forward, for the July to September quarter, street crime has been added in to the priority to encompass the times anti-social behaviour strays into other kinds of criminality.

“The town centre beat still remains the focus for anti-social behaviour,” Inspector Ellam added.

“We’re mindful of the events going on throughout the summer which people want to enjoy, and of the visible behaviour in the town centre which can make people feel uneasy.”

Among other avenues, the team will look to use public space protection orders to take enforcement action when necessary.

Orders for anti-social behaviour and alcohol control are in place across the town centre, which allow officers to order people causing anti-social behaviour to leave the area and for alcohol to be surrendered.

Members of the public are also encouraged to “go and say hello” and engage with officers out on patrol.

In other areas of the district, the focus has been of a different nature — with issues relating to off-roading around Sherwood Pines and Eakring Road desert area — but has also seen good work put in.

Ollerton Police Station is now the base for one of the force’s quad bikes, and two officers have been trained to use it, allowing them better access to the remote areas where anti-social behaviour has taken place.

The inspector said: “They’re conducting patrols on the quad bike as frequently as possible, and it acts as a visual deterrent.

“The staff at Sherwood Pines have been really positive, we’ve had good feedback so will continue to do so.

“We’ve also had deployment of the off-road bike team, both in the Sherwood and Newark areas.”