Wirral Local Policing Team highlights ongoing work to tackle ASB

This week Merseyside Police is supporting Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Awareness Week, which aims to highlight the impact of ASB and bring people and organisations together to make their communities safer.

Through conversations with our community and reviewing force data, Wirral’s biggest ASB problem revolves around groups of youths and the types of associated issues they can be linked with such as nuisance riding of scrambler bikes, drinking in outdoor spaces or aggressive or intimidating behaviour. That’s why this week of action the Wirral Community Policing Team are shining a light on their ongoing work to tackle these types of ASB issues and the proactive steps they take to reduce it.

Local Wirral Inspector Sharon Robinson at Merseyside Police said: “For many people living on the Wirral, they would say it was a friendly and welcoming place to live but unfortunately for those affected by anti-social behaviour issues, it is becoming an increasing concern.

“Work to stop ASB goes on all year round, but this week of action, we are highlighting our united front to tackle the problem. We will have high visibility foot patrols in our parks and town centres, we will also be attending various other initiatives such as bike marking events; targeted youth outreach activities; school presentations; reassurance letter drops and ASB surgeries and community drop-in sessions.

“As a preventative measure to reduce anti-social behaviour over a longer-term basis, we have officers who are currently developing a school-based project aimed to educate students on a variety of ASB related issues and the devastating consequences they can have.

“There will be plenty of partnership work too, with joint patrols and walkabouts known as ‘Days of action’ across targeted hotspot areas. These multi-agency approaches will see representatives from Wirral Council ASB team, Prima Housing, Merseyside Fire and Rescue, Community Connectors and various councillors engaging with members of the community, listening to their views and providing reassurance.

“Running alongside this week of action, at end of May the force launched Operation ‘Openspace’. This is an initiative that together working alongside partners, aims to prevent serious violence and anti-social behaviour in key locations such as Birkenhead, Liscard and tourist locations West Kirby and New Brighton.

“Since the operation began, the force has carried out 15 stop searches, made 8 arrests, and given out 2 dispersal notices. Further to this, officers have also engaged with over 70 different youths and have given out verbal warnings when needed. I want these numbers to reflect and reassure people that we will take action when needed and will continue to do so, tackling ASB is an everyday commitment for us and our partners.

“Finally, I would like to ask that despite doing everything we can to tackle ASB, we can’t do it without your help. That is why I encourage people to report instances of ASB, because we know that some people don’t report ASB when they see it or experience it. The more reports we get, the more intelligence we have to address the issue and build the resilience to prevent it from reoccurring.”

Cllr Helen Cameron, Chair of the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee, said: “Wirral Council works closely with the police and other partners, such as housing associations, charities, community groups and sports clubs, to address anti-social behaviour all year round.

“Anti-social behaviour week is important in that allows partners to demonstrate what a high priority tackling this kind of activity is and that we recognise what a negative impact ASB can have on individual residents and whole communities.

“Tackling ASB effectively is a key part of Wirral’s Community Safety Strategy and activities are focused not just on prevention and enforcement, but also on understanding and addressing root causes within our communities.”

If you are experiencing problems with persistent anti-social behaviour, you should report this to Wirral Anti-Social Behaviour by logging it via Wirral Councils website: www.wirral.gov.uk/asb or e-mail the team at: [email protected].

You can also report via social media direct messaging to the force’s account @MerPolCC on Facebook and Twitter. Alternatively, you can call 101.

You can also anonymously tell us about areas where you feel unsafe because of anti-social behaviour via ‘StreetSafe’: www.merseyside.police.uk/notices/street-safe/street-safe

The information you submit will help us to identify the areas that need improvements to make our streets safer. Note, 'StreetSafe' is not for reporting crime or incidents.

To see the full range of activity happening across the week, follow our social media channels: @MerPolWirral on Twitter and @WirralPolice on Facebook.