Residents in the Borough of Havant will now benefit from a joined-up approach to tackling Anti-social behaviour (ASB) following funding awarded to the council from the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Home Office GRIP fund.
The new role, employed by Havant Borough Council, is now actively patrolling and responding to issues that arise within communities, whilst working alongside the police and other partners, as part of the council’s commitment to drive down ASB.
The ASB Officer will assist residents and businesses by tackling issues with the aim to resolve concerns, carrying out low-level enforcement when action needs to be taken, reporting matters to relevant services and signposting to further support.
Councillor Richard Brown, Cabinet lead for Place at Havant Borough Council, said, “Having gained this funding for an ASB officer we are able to meet this council’s priorities following the residents survey and support the efforts to have a safer and cleaner borough. This dedicated resource will help us enormously in tackling, and hopefully reversing, antisocial behaviour in our communities.
“In addition, the ASB Officer is actively feeding back to the community what actions are being taken, supporting our aim to have increased transparency.
“We want to support our residents and businesses as well as build their confidence that we are listening to their concerns and reassure them that action is being taken.”
Since being in post more than 100 patrols have taken place in hotspot areas that have been identified. Early intervention has meant that disputes between members of the public have been calmed or dispersed, reducing the impact on the broader community, street scene issues have been reported and resolved quicker and evidence is being identified earlier which supports the actions of the broader Prevention and Enforcement Team.
Strong links are also being formed with the local Neighbourhood Policing Teams and younger people are starting to understand the officer’s role within the community.