‘Every report counts’: Police force urges people to report anti-social behaviour

Report, report, report. That’s the message coming from police in south Wales as they launch their new campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB).

For South Wales Police, every report counts and can contribute to community solutions needed to bring positive change. The force wants to help people understand what happens once a report has been made and how the police use the information. 

With the launch of the new campaign ‘Project Pinpoint’, people are being encouraged to report ASB, to demonstrate how it can contribute to crime data. This data can, in turn, lead to targeted community solutions. Reports can be made online, here.

The project aims to tackle ASB head-on, through positive engagement, while fostering stronger connections within the community.

Every report counts

A recent example of the difference reporting can make comes in the form of a once-problematic car park in Bridgend.

Until recently, the site was a hotspot for anti-social behaviour, and thanks to the large number of reports being made, a practical solution was introduced, which saw the number of ASB reports fall.

Using police data from reports, officers were able to pinpoint multiple car parks across Bridgend as ASB problem areas and were able to develop a targeted solution.

South Wales Police’s Sergeant Dan Parry reached out to the Ospreys rugby club to help combat these ongoing issues. 

Ospreys in the Community, in conjunction with the South Wales Police and Bridgend Youth Support, developed an innovative new project, ‘TACKLE After Dark’ – an initiative that invites youngsters to play touch rugby in urban areas such as car parks.

Success

The goal was to pinpoint anti-social behaviour hotspots with a high number of reports to help engage the young people who were the cause of it.

Since Sergeant Daniel Parry introduced the initiative, ASB in the area has seen a 66% decline in reports in the Bridgend sector– and has shown the importance of reporting ASB to the police.

Sgt Parry said: “This initiative demonstrates the importance of reporting anti-social behaviour.

“Because ASB was reported, we’ve been able to implement a scheme – in this case working with Ospreys in the Community – to ensure that sort of behaviour is tackled, while also making sure young people aren’t forgotten about and have something fulfilling to do with their time. 

“Within the first five weeks of the project with TACKLE after Dark, they engaged with 107 individuals.  In six months, reports of anti-social behaviour in Bridgend dropped, from 172 reported calls to 57 reported calls.

“Every report made really does count.”

South Wales Police & Crime Commissioner Emma Wools said: “We have been extremely successful in our bids to the Home Office Safer Streets Fund and the allocation of £1million towards community safety initiatives is an endorsement of the strong partnership working we have in South Wales. 

“We have worked closely with local authorities and other partners to identify the drivers of local problems and how best to tackle them together. 

“We can achieve far more by working together which is why it is so important for those who are experiencing anti-social behaviour to report these issues so we can focus our efforts and resources where they are needed most. Project Pinpoint, which is funded by Safer Streets, aims to raise awareness of the importance of reporting anti-social behaviour so we can make a positive difference and make our communities safer for everyone.”

This is the pilot for Project Pinpoint which will see other community focused initiatives happening across South Wales to combat anti-social behaviours.