City Beat: Winter of Action sees reduction in violence and anti-social behaviour

As part of the national Winter of Action, which concluded at the end of January, we increased patrols and worked closely with partners including the local authority.

Results show violent crime in the city centre fell by 22 per cent in December compared to the same period last year and reports of anti-social behaviour reduced by 12.5% during the campaign. Neighbourhood officers made multiple arrests, issued dispersal orders and, in some cases, secured exclusions from the nighttime economy for those whose behaviour warranted it.

Officers also helped vulnerable people, enforced Public Space Protection Orders and issued fixed penalty notices.

I’m really pleased with what has been achieved.

We’ve been working closely with businesses, Queensgate and the Business Improvement District (BID) to improve confidence in reporting retail crime. Officers have been promoting online reporting tools, which offer a quicker, less disruptive process for retail staff, as well as highlighting how important it is to tell us about incidents.

As a result, reports have increased by almost 20 per cent (October to December compared with July to September). While a rise in reports may appear negative, in this case we believe it reflects businesses feeling more confident in reporting.

Without accurate reporting, we cannot get a true picture of what’s happening or target our resources effectively. Increased reporting has already led to more positive outcomes, with several offenders receiving custodial sentences or Criminal Behaviour Orders banning them from certain shops or from Queensgate. We know how important this issue is for local businesses and we will continue to work alongside them.

Late last year, the Home Office announced several “HEX” hotspot areas to tackle knife crime, with part of central Peterborough selected as one of the pilot locations.

This will include tailored enforcement, joint high visibility patrols, youth diversion work and problem solving with partners. The aim is to prevent violence at its roots and build safer, more confident communities.

As I mentioned in my last column, reducing knife crime is right at the top of our agenda this year, and this project will complement our existing work.

It’s vital we work together as a community to tackle this issue, it needs a whole system approach including education and prevention, as well as enforcement where necessary.

Finally, a reminder that you can find out more about local policing on our website, by signing up to eCops, or following our Facebook page by searching Policing Peterborough.