Tough action to crackdown on anti-social behaviour is underway across Derbyshire and Derby City thanks to a £4.4m grant secured by Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster.
The Commissioner has announced that her Derbyshire Action Against Anti-Social Behaviour Plan gets underway this week to coincide with ASB Awareness Week.
It will deliver targeted ‘hotspot' policing and street warden patrols in every district and borough across Derbyshire and Derby City as part of a tough clampdown on nuisance behaviour. Extra patrols will commence later this month.
Residents in hotspot areas will see an increased presence of police officers and wardens over the coming months.
In addition, a new Derbyshire Immediate Justice scheme is now in place to ensure offenders receive swift punishment for their behaviour. The Commissioner and her team have designed a bespoke scheme which will soon start to be delivered across our county.
Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster said: "This plan is funding unprecedented action to drive down anti-social behaviour on our streets further. It will ensure anti-social behaviour is treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves which is what the public wants.
"Proactive policing patrols will intensify over the coming weeks, benefitting every district and borough. Perpetrators will be dealt with quickly and robustly. They will be made to confront the full consequences of their actions and pay back their victims and communities for the harm they have caused.
"Anti-social behaviour is not a low-level crime. It has a serious, detrimental impact on mental wellbeing and is unacceptable. This is why I made it a priority in my Police and Crime Plan and I'm pleased that, since I was elected, we have seen a drop of 45.8% in anti-social behaviour.
"We must be relentless in tackling this problem to restore lawfulness and order in our communities and support victims of anti-social behaviour in every way possible."
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 forces 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.