Anti-Social Behaviour reports halved after crackdown

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) reports in Spilsby have halved in the last four months after a crackdown by Lincolnshire Police.

During Spring 2021 there had been a rise in the reports of anti-social behaviour in the town – including people climbing on roofs, rowdy behaviour at the town centre bus stop, trespassing on land, and low-level drug use.

Lincolnshire Police encouraged members of the public to report ASB which enabled the Neighbourhood Policing Team to put together a problem-solving plan. This led to:

• Arrests and searches for a burglary were made involving youths breaking into a commercial property to commit anti-social behaviour.
• Intelligence was developed to highlight areas of drug use in public spaces. Searches were conducted where youths were discovered with a quantity of cannabis. The drugs were seized, and the youths were diverted to other agencies for education and diversion.
• Police dogs were brought into the area to search for discarded/hidden drugs and to detect anybody using drugs in public.
• Adults who may have been committing ASB due to mental health or substance use were signposted or referred to support agencies.
• People identified for causing a disturbance in the street and using abusive language were interviewed and reported for offences under the Public Order Act.
• Victims with vulnerable properties were identified and visited by our tactical crime reduction officer who implemented target hardening strategies.
• Extra patrols were conducted using both marked and unmarked resources which identified individuals causing antisocial behaviour. 
• CCTV systems were upgraded by the council and it was utilised to review reports of ASB which identified the people responsible who were subsequently dealt with using anti-social behaviour legislation.

Lincolnshire Police state that offenders have been identified and dealt with under both criminal and anti-social behaviour legislation, support provided to victims, and the reports of ASB have halved in the last four months of the action.

More information on the latest crime data can be found on our Spilsby Crime Dashboard.