Policing Peterborough: Measures we take to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in the city

It has the potential to escalate to serious crime and can drag down entire areas, leaving them feeling unsafe.

In our most recent round of community consultation, all four neighbourhood areas across Peterborough were set a priority to address anti-social behaviour, the locations identified are widespread and include specific locations including Cathedral View in the city centre, Axiom Avenue in Bretton Gate and Manor Drive in Gunthorpe, as well as more general areas including Cardea, Hampton Centre, Orton Goldhay, Orton Malborne, Millfield, Eastfield and Park Ward, with the issues varying from drug dealing and use, off-road motorcycling and other vehicle nuisance, young people intimidating others and illegal use of e-scooters.

One way to deal with problem premises is the use of ‘closure orders’, where a court can order for a property to either be fully closed to everyone including the legal tenant, or partially closed, meaning only the legal tenant (and other specified people) can be there, therefore preventing unwanted visitors and stopping ASB. We have applied to the courts for a number of these in recent months and their use has seen local issues drop off, notably in Eastfield, the Ortons and Woodston. While closure orders are not permanent solutions, they can provide temporary relief for the community, and an opportunity for intervention and support.

Clearly ASB is not just an issue for the police – our best work here is that we do with Peterborough City Council, Cross Keys Homes and other partners through the Safer Peterborough Partnership (SPP). Working with the SPP we deliver interventions to improve the quality of life for everyone across the district.

Another option open to us is the use of dispersal orders. A dispersal order means we can define an area subject to crime and ASB and then direct people to leave for a period of up to 48 hours. While not something we resort to without good reason, as I accept, they can disproportionately affect young people, we have made use of them in the City Centre to tackle some of the issues we saw around Christmas where issues were escalating.

Speaking of the City Centre, we have also secured an anti-social behaviour injunction against a 17-year-old, and while again we do not want to criminalise a young person, we also have a responsibility to make sure everyone else can visit the area free from harassment.

I appreciate that not everyone has faith in how we respond to ASB and some are left questioning what, if anything, has actually happened since a complaint was made. In certain circumstances you can apply for a community trigger, this is not a complaint, but more a review of what we have done and whether we should do more.

While we often talk about prioritising high-harm crimes such as knife crime, domestic abuse and exploitation, anti-social behaviour is something our neighbourhood policing teams are focussing heavily on at the moment, and will continue to do so in coming months.

Public feedback has told us how important this is to our communities, we are listening to you, and are working hard to make Peterborough a better place for not only residents, but those visiting our city.

A whole host of information about ASB can be found on our website via the dedicated ASB information pages.