By Inspector Maxine Cilia
Our latest project around Catalytic Converters had an overwhelming response. I am so pleased that so many of you want to get involved in crime prevention. Letters went out to local residents who were known to own one of the top two cars subjected to Catalytic Converter thefts and we had 196 free kits available to give away via Kwik Fit Sunbury. They were overwhelmed and the kits went in a matter of days. If you were not able to get one we do have some further kits available on production of your letter from Staines Police Station.
Why not get involved in your local Neighbourhood watch. We are improving links with our Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators and also want to see more watches being established across the area, so if you are interested, you can find out more information about being involved in a NHW through the link below.
We have recently had an increase in reports of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in the Lower Sunbury areas with the focus being on the parade of shops in Green Street. There have been reports of abuse from teenagers to shop staff and customers, thefts in local shops, youth congregating in the car parks and Anti-social driving in a number of different car parks. This seems to be a shift from Sunbury Cross area back down to Lower Sunbury and our patrols will need to be maintained covering both areas, however our continued efforts for long term solutions with local partners, including the ASB team from the council and the housing associations will hopefully see long term benefits.
With the lockdown coming to a hopeful end, we are going to be able to complete more engagement activities and will hopefully be starting to have more face to face contact with residents across all areas.
The following is an informed article on ASB from Bev Gosden.
WHAT IS ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR (ASB)?
“Any aggressive, intimidating or destructive activity that damages or destroys another person’s quality of life”
Surrey Police are committed to dealing with all kinds of ASB and have a dedicated team to assist local policing teams.
ASB covers a wide range of incidents and is dealt with by a number of different agencies such as housing providers and local authori-ties.
If ASB is not dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner it can have a devastating impact on the lives of individuals, families and communities and it is widely recognised that single agencies cannot tackle ASB alone and must work in partnership to address the issues.
With the help and support of our partner agencies and most importantly our communities, Surrey Police have the power and tools to deal with ASB effectively using the legislation in the Anti-Social crime and Policing Act 2014 with court orders such as :-
Criminal Behaviour Order: – Used post-conviction of a criminal offence to prevent a person from continuing to act criminally or anti-socially in public environments. They can restrict or exclude access to areas, prevent types of behaviour they are displaying. A breach of the order can incur up to a 5 year prison sentence.
Civil injunction: – Used to prevent a person from continuing to act anti-socially in public environments. They can restrict or exclude access to areas, prevent them from associat-ing with others who are behaving in a similar manner as well having specific conditions designed to prevent to the types of behaviour they are displaying. A breach of the order can incur a fine or prison sentence.
Property Closure Order: – Used to prevent ASB or criminal activity from occurring at a property or associated with a property. There are two kinds of property closure; a partial closure allows a tenant to remain living at the location, usually a vulnerable person who has had their property taken over by others and have been exploited (commonly known as cuckooing) often in relation to County Lines drugs. This type of closure allows Po-lice and partner agencies to support the ten-ant to reduce the risk of further exploita-tion to them and harm to the community.
A full property closure order means that no-one, including the tenant/owner will have access to any part of the property due to their involvement in the criminal or anti-social behaviour occurring at the address. Both closures can be in place for a maxi-mum of 6 months, an initial 3 months then an extension of a further 3 months. A prop-erty closure gives a housing provider man-datory grounds for possession which will often lead to an eviction, all tenants/owners will have been offered extensive help and support before this action is tak-en.
Dispersal Orders: – Used in areas that are suffering a significant amount of ASB to give immediate relief to communities by giving Police officers and PCSO`s the power to order someone who they believe is contributing or likely to contribute to the ASB to leave the area for a period of up to 48 hours, a breach of this, if they return to the defined area within that time period, would be a criminal offence and make them liable for arrest which could result in a fine or imprisonment.
Please do not suffer ASB in silence, we take it very seriously, we can offer help and sup-port to victims and with your help can build the evidence to use the above mentioned tools to prevent anyone from having a nega-tive impact on your life and those of your relatives, friends or colleagues.
Anti-social Behaviour can cause significant community harm and Surrey Police are dedicated to making the residents of Surrey feel safer and their communities a safe and pleasant place to live, work and play.
REPORT ALL INCIDENTS TO SUR-REY POLICE
999 IN AN EMERGENCY (CRIME IN ACTION/IMMEDIATE THREAT OF HARM OR RISK) 101 OR VIA OUR ONLINE REPORTING SERVICE