£1 million boost to tackle anti-social behaviour

Lincolnshire Police are supporting ASB Awareness Week 2024 and using the opportunity to highlight the good work to come from the £1 million hotspot patrolling grant secured by the Police and Crime Commissioner, Marc Jones, from the Home Office to tackle anti-social behaviour across the county.

We are joining the national campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and keep people in Lincolnshire safe. Running from November 18 to 24, ASB Awareness Week aims to encourage communities to take a stand, highlights the actions that can be taken by those experiencing it, and signposts to help and support.

Organised by the community safety organisation, Resolve, the week is also an opportunity to highlight good work within our communities. We will be shining a light on our ‘hotspot policing’ across Lincolnshire.

YouGov research commissioned by Resolve found that almost 1 in 5 people have had to consider moving home because of the impact ASB was having on them; 1 in 10 have actually moved. Despite this, over half of those surveyed who were either a victim or witness of ASB did not report the ASB. We are urging members of the public not to suffer in silence if they experience ASB.

ASB is sometimes perceived as trivial, but is actually defined as “conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm, or distress to any person.” We know that harassment, alarm and distress do not feel ‘trivial’ to the person affected.

The East Commander for Local Policing and Prevention, Superintendent Fran Harrod said, “When we talk about our comparatively low levels of ASB in Lincolnshire, we know this is no consolation if there is an issue in your area. It can be seen as ‘low level’ in comparison with some of the things we deal with, but it can have a huge impact on communities, affecting feelings of safety and quality of life. Everyone has the right to live without fear.”

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Anti-social behaviour includes many categories such as misuse of fireworks, disputes with neighbours, nuisance noise, nuisance animals, vehicles, unwanted calls or visits, littering and fly tipping. Supt Harrod explained, “There are a broad range of behaviours that are anti-social and a number of organisations play a part in addressing them. We want to make sure that people know who to go to and how to report anti-social behaviour. It may be us, local council or a registered housing provider who deal with your issue, and we don’t want not knowing who to go to being a barrier to getting help.”

Whatever issue you are facing, you can find out who can help in the information pages on our website. Here you can find out who deals with what. If it’s an issue for Lincolnshire Police, you will be able to submit a report online. If not, you will be directed to the right channel. Visit our dedicated antisocial behaviour section and find out more here. 

We will also be highlighting the support for victims of anti-social behaviour. There is support regardless of if you decide to report the issue. Supt Harrod said, “There are channels of support that we want everyone to know about. Victim Lincs work tirelessly to help people affected and signpost them to support. Please never feel your issue is not important enough to seek support.” Find out about the support organisations available here.

Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Marc Jones said: “These additional foot patrols are already proving how important boots on the ground across our communities are. They have been received very positively by residents, business owners and the police officers themselves but it’s important to recognise this has been enabled by a one-off lump sum. Once that money is exhausted we simply cannot afford to continue unless something changes drastically in our funding. That is why I will continue my campaign to get our county force a funding package that can deliver policing that we all want for our communities. Our residents want more visible policing and we want to deliver that. If we had the same funding as Cumbria we would have 500 more officers. That’s how ridiculous the current formula is.”

Frustratingly for victims, sometimes anti-social behaviour does not have a quick or easy fix. It can be complicated and ingrained. Where you have had an issue that has been reported three or more times in the last six months, and it’s not been resolved, you have the right to request an anti-social behaviour case review through your local council. Find out more about anti-social behaviour case reviews here. 

More on hotspot policing

In March 2023, the Government published a new Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, which included funding for anti-social behaviour (ASB) Hotspot Patrols. Lincolnshire have been provided with £1 million of non-recurrent funding for 2024/2025. The aim of the patrols is to focus activity and increase visibility to reduce ASB within the hotspot and surrounding areas which have the highest levels of ASB and serious violence offences.

Using data recorded about the type and location of incidents we are making use of innovative data analytics and mapping technologies and using this data in our resource planning to determine when and where to increase the presence of police officers in problems areas. This valuable funding enables officers to carry out increased foot patrols via a specially dedicated overtime budget. Officers patrol specific areas which have been identified as ‘hotspots’ using data to complement the exisiting priority setting and tasking methodology. It is important to emphasise that this hotspot activity is not in place of the important work our Neighbourhood Policing Teams do each day, it is to complement it by tackling some of the issues before they become bigger problems.

Hotspot areas in Lincolnshire include Lincoln, Skegness, Boston, Louth, Sleaford, Gainsborough and Mablethorpe.

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