Anti-social behaviour awareness week runs from 18 – 22 July, bringing together people and organisations across the country to take a stand against anti-social behaviour and to make communities safer.
It is backed by the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Local Government Association National Police Chiefs’ Council and the National Fire Chiefs’ Council.
For its part, the Constabulary will be throwing the spotlight on the work underway across the county to tackle all forms of antisocial behaviour from vandalism right through to issues like nuisance driving and drug dealing.
Throughout the week, it will be encouraging the public to work with its Neighbourhood Policing Teams to address local issues and showcasing some of the initiatives underway to tackle community concerns.
These include Op Propulsion which has been successful in tackling nuisance bikes and Op Pavilion which aims to reduce ASB in Preston city centre.
Andrew Snowden, Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire said: “Anti-social behaviour in all its forms is a blight on our communities and makes people feel unsafe in their homes and on the streets.
“Officers work around the clock to keep areas safe and ensure people feel safe, with this week of activity showing we are unapologetically taking the fight to anyone who makes life a misery for others in this way.
“I am already working closely with the Constabulary to further toughen up our response to ASB, with the establishment of a specialist anti-social behaviour unit building on the investment into neighbourhood policing and funding for community projects deterring crime, already seen in my first year in office.”
“Whether intimidation and aggression, drug dealing, or the anti-social use of vehicles to name just a few, I have made clear that tackling ASB is a key priority for us in Lancashire in my Police and Crime Plan, as I lead the fight against crime and deliver on the issues that matter most to people.”
Supt Chris Hardy, the Constabulary’s lead for anti-social behaviour said: “Tackling anti-social behaviour is a key priority for us and a real focus for our neighbourhood policing teams.
“It’s something we work hard to address day in day out, so this week of action is about highlighting some of the ongoing activity which the public might not be aware of and encouraging out communities to keep telling us their priorities through initiatives like Lancashire Talking so we can do our best to address them.
“Working with partners is a vital part our stance towards anti-social behaviour. As usual, we will be working with them throughout this awareness week and showing the public what our joined approach looks like. We balance diversion tactics and enforcement when dealing with ASB, so this awareness week is a great way to show that.”
For more information about national anti-social behaviour awareness week, visit www.resolveuk.org.uk/asbawarenessweek.
To sign up for Lancashire Talking visit www.stayintheknow.co.uk/LancashireTalking
The Police and Crime Commissioner is currently running a county wide anti-social behaviour survey to get a full picture of the scale and types of anti-social behaviour (ASB), to identify hotspots and to look at how the police and local partners can work better together to get tough on ASB and to keep local communities safe.- this can be found here: https://www.lancashire-pcc.gov.uk/anti-social-behaviour-survey