By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Doubt has been cast on crime figures which show anti-social behaviour is decreasing in Newark – with one councillor saying the statistics don’t reflect what people feel about the issue.
Nottinghamshire Police statistics say there were 2,538 reports of anti-social behaviour in Newark & Sherwood in the 12 months to April, around 300 fewer than the year before.
Injunctions and community protection orders have been used to crackdown on problems in Newark town centre.
A district council report, discussed at Policy and Performance Improvement Committee meeting on Monday (June 24) says there were three injunctions placing conditions on young people who had been involved in serious town centre incidents last year.
A further 16 young people who were causing disturbances have been given warning letters by the police, with two issued with second stage letters.
Nine community protection warnings were also issued to adults suspected of anti-social behaviour.
Three closure orders had also been issued on properties that were causing problems in the community.
However, Councillor Jack Kellas (Con) says most people would struggle to believe that anti-social behaviour was on the decline.
He told the meeting Monday (June 24): “These figures claim there’s been an 11 per cent reduction in anti-social behaviour. Most people wouldn’t feel or say that.”
He questioned whether people were still reporting incidents.
“Nottinghamshire Police statistics say crime overall has gone up. It seems odd that crime goes up and anti-social behaviour goes down.”
In response Inspector Charlotte Ellam, the Notts Police District Commander for Newark and Sherwood, said: “The town centre was seeing significant issues in terms of youth ASB [anti-social behaviour] with a core group. Now we’ve got strong routes to divert them.
“It may be that homelessness and street drinking are becoming bigger issues in those areas now. We will need to adapt and target those if so.”
Jenny Walker, the council’s Business Manager for Public Protection, emphasised how important it was that people report problems.
“We are still pushing the message about how important reporting is. It can be a challenge to report on 101 [the police non-emergency phone number], but putting it on Facebook isn’t reporting it,” she told the meeting.
