The Home Secretary Suella Braverman paid tribute to the rapid progress being made to tackle anti-social behaviour across Derbyshire and Derby City at a meeting held earlier this week.
The Home Secretary met Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster and Chief Constable Rachel Swann at Police Headquarters to congratulate them on the improvements which are delivering a strong and effective response to anti-social behaviour.
Anti-social behaviour has fallen in every district and borough of the county – reducing by 47.5 per cent countywide since the Commissioner’s election in May 2021.
The Home Secretary met the team leading the crackdown and was impressed by the evident success.
The progress will now be boosted by the Derbyshire Action Against Anti-Social Behaviour Scheme launched this week by the Police and Crime Commissioner. This has been specifically designed by the Commissioner and her team to tackle those areas most affected by this type of behaviour.
The Commissioner recently secured £4.4m for Derbyshire to take part in two pilot schemes to deliver the Home Office’s ‘Immediate Justice’ and ‘Hotspot policing’ programmes.
Derbyshire was one of just four force areas to be selected to take part in both the Hotspot Policing and Immediate Justice elements of the programme. This will support the Commissioner’s own zero tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour, which includes her grant fund to help local projects tackle anti-social behaviour.
Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster said: “I am pleased that the Home Secretary recognised the hard work of our police force here in Derbyshire.
“All partner agencies have worked relentlessly over the past two years to increase support for victims of anti-social behaviour. This has had a significant impact on levels of anti-social behaviour countywide which have fallen by almost half in two years. These problems need to be treated with the seriousness and urgency they deserve. People are fed up of seeing anti-social behaviour in their communities.
“The Home Secretary was impressed with our progress which will undoubtedly accelerate now that our pilot schemes are underway. The hard work will continue, all agencies involved are committed to driving down anti-social behaviour further in Derbyshire and Derby City.
“The extra policing patrols will increase enforcement capabilities but also work as a deterrent. The reparative activity will be visible to the public, with the community and victims getting a say in the kind of clean-up or repairs undertaken. Perpetrators will be made to take responsibility for their action and payback to the communities.”
Chief Constable Rachel Swann said: “Anti-social behaviour has a devastating effect on our communities, and I am in full support of the initiatives that have been launched by the Police and Crime Commissioner that will assist us with tackling this awful crime. We are pleased to support these through the additional targeted hot spot patrols and other operational activity.
“I welcome the additional funding from the Home Secretary to invest in crime prevention as part of the Safer Streets Fund. This funding is crucial to improving things such as CCTV, street lighting and introducing community projects in Derbyshire.
“We continue to work closely with our partners in different agencies to assist us with the work we do to tackle anti-social behaviour across the county.
“A joint approach with other agencies is taken to tackle anti-social behaviour and it will not be tolerated in our communities. We strive to bring offenders to justice and use the most appropriate resolution for the crime committed.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “Anti-social behaviour is not ‘low-level’ crime and that’s why I am determined to bring it to a stop by giving police the powers and the funding to stamp it out.
“There will be quick and visible consequences for individuals carrying out this behaviour before they start down the path to more serious criminality.”
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