In Sunderland, police and partners have worked to tackle anti-social behaviour at a car park. Northumbria Police officers have received more reports of youth-related disorder and associated incidents within Sunderland Civic Centre staff and public car park. Patrols have been stepped up in the area and CCTV used to identify those responsible for crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) as part of Operation Kaiser.
Police have also issued ‘Direction to Leave’ notices to those gathering in the car park which bans them from the area for up to 48-hours. If they return, they face being arrested. Since the operation, a total of 99 people have also been stopped and spoken to in the vicinity of the car park about ASB.
Sunderland Central Neighbourhood Policing Team are also working with partners at Sunderland City Council and Gentoo’s anti-social behaviour officers to combat the issue.
Ged Fairclough, Sunderland Central Neighbourhood Sergeant, said: “We’ve had recent reports of youths gathering in the car park causing anti-social behaviour and disorder which is why Operation Kaiser was set up. I would like to reassure communities that we do see this as one of our main priorities as we know the effects anti-social behaviour has on people’s quality of life and fear of crime.
“People can be assured that we’re committed to working together to continue to drive down anti-social behaviour and the minority of people who do let themselves and their communities down will be subject to close attention by ourselves and our partners. The multi-agency work carried out so far shows how effective partnership working can be and this will continue.”
Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council and Chair of the Safer Sunderland Partnership, Councillor Harry Trueman, said: “By working together to use the shared resources and enforcement options available, we can target specific areas experiencing problems with anti-social behaviour and take appropriate action to prevent it happening wherever possible. Operation Kaiser is the result of hard work and planning to find out what was causing these problems, and then putting the measures in place to do something about them.
“This includes identifying those people involved in disorder, and then working with individuals and their families to make them aware of the negative impact this type of behaviour has on their and other people’s lives.”
Sue Abraham, Neighbourhood Enforcement Officer, said: “At Gentoo we are committed to working with other agencies to ensue our communities are safe places to live.
“This initiative is a great example of effective partnership working, and we will continue to work alongside partners to reduce anti-social behaviour and improve the lives of those living in our communities.”
