24/01/2023
Re: Patchway and Charlton Hayes Anti-Social Behaviour issues
Dear residents, business owners and their employees,
The Patchway neighbourhood policing team has successfully worked with the community to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Patchway and Charlton Hayes, after seeing an increasing number of reports in November of last year.
Officers started to get calls about issues caused by a group of children aged between 13 and 15, including:
Stealing snacks and causing a nuisance at shops
Swearing at and being abusive towards members of the public
Causing damage by kicking the communal doors of flats and writing graffiti
Smoking cannabis
We could see the impact this was having on individuals, businesses and the community but found people weren't always reporting incidents. It's important to tell us what's happening. You can call 101 or report online at any time but should ring 999 when a crime is underway.
After encouraging people to report incidents we had calls coming in almost every day and were able to prioritise the issue and target our patrols. Thanks to the support of the community this paid off, with more than a dozen boys and girls identified as being involved.
It's important to remember that it's only a small minority of our young people who get involved in ASB. Most teenagers just want to meet their friends, and of course should be able to use our community spaces just like anyone else.
The behaviour of this group, however, was unacceptable. We investigated and were able to identify them. While most don’t live locally we've visited all their families and carers and let them know about the problems the children were causing.
All those who've been identified as involved in criminal offences are being formally interviewed at the police station. Seven young people have already been interviewed over offences including theft, damage and public order and referred to the Youth Offending Team, who work with young people and their families and carers to help them stay out of trouble. Several more have been identified and are due to be formally interviewed shortly.
Others, who weren't involved in crimes, could be asked to sign acceptable behaviour contracts.
There’s been a drop in reported incidents involving this group, with none since early January.
We want to thank the community for their support in reporting incidents and supplying us with information and CCTV footage. Everyone living or working in Patchway and Charlton Hayes should be able to feel safe and go about their life and business in peace. Rest assured, with your help we'll carry on working to target those responsible for ASB.
Neighbourhood PC Harry Barrett