School holiday pilot tackles anti-social behaviour

A pilot project to tackle anti-social behaviour in Northamptonshire was launched in the summer holidays

Youth workers have been piloting a project to reduce anti-social behaviour in town centres.

A new outreach project was launched in Kettering and Corby during the school summer holidays to find where anti-social behaviour took place throughout the six weeks.

Northamptonshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner early intervention team joined with the Neighbourhood policing team to identify the areas.

Labour's Danielle Stone, the county's commissioner, said: "Outreach meets young people in their own environment, and it can be a really powerful way to educate and reduce offending."

Police had made 16 referrals to the early intervention team to visit including town centres and areas of concern.

The work coincided with the force's Operation Napery and Operation Alien, which looked into anti-social behaviour linked to young people.

Youth workers, who are specially trained to engage with young people about problematic behaviour, drugs, gangs, grooming and unhealthy relationships, also spent time spotting signs of concern.

Stone added: "Their outreach work in town centres offer a safe space for young people to have meaningful conversations, feel listened to and be steered away from anti-social behaviour."

It follows action from the Home Office's Safer Streets Summer initiative.

Dept Supt Andy Glenn, antisocial behaviour lead for the force, said: "Anti-social behaviour has a big community impact, both in terms of concern to people and also physical damage to things like buildings and street furniture.

"By working with young people involved in incidents in Kettering and Corby, we can help them to understand the impact their poor behaviour has on individuals, businesses and the wider community, as well as support them in work to make amends or improve the area for everyone," he added.