Anti-social behaviour in Westbury has decreased in recent months, with rowdy and nuisance behaviour down 12% since April 2010.
Figures from Wiltshire Police also show that taking anti-social behaviour as a whole, Westbury suffered from an average of 2.2 incidents per 1000 population every two weeks for the 2009/2010 financial year.
Inspector Dave Minty said, “Although this figure is good, there is room for improvement with only Salisbury, Trowbridge and Chippenham having higher figures, within Wiltshire.”
“Anti-social behaviour is the main target for the NPT, and they work extremely closely with the Anti Social Behaviour Officer from the council. There are numerous interventions that are being used including distractions for young people such as the Blues and Zues disco recently started, to Anti Social Behaviour Orders. Currently there are two interim orders in place and it is hoped that these will have a significant impact on the few people that commit the majority of these types of offence.”
Anti-social behaviour can be generally described as an action that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others not of the same household. Although this can cover a number of issues from street drinking to littering, by far the biggest reported problem in Westbury is “rowdy/inconsiderate behaviour”, with an average of 62.3 calls to police per month for the Westbury community area.
Inspector Minty added, “Anti-social behaviour can have a significant impact on its victims, it affects people where they live and often they feel there is no escape. It is often referred to as low level criminality but this undermines exactly how it makes its victims feel.”
“Reducing anti-social behaviour is absolutely key to the activities of the police. It is vital that the police are informed if and when it occurs, allowing us to work with our partners to bring it to an early conclusion, letting people get on with their lives.”
