Southend: ASB patrols for Southchurch Road and Maple Square

Two areas of Southend are benefitting from additional patrols by police and council officers after incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Patrol zones have been established in areas off Southchurch Road and Maple Square to provide residents with a highly visible presence after reports of drug offences, noise and nuisance activity.

Officers from Southend Community Policing Team and Southend-on-Sea City Council’s community safety officers will complete more than 3,000 hours of patrols and conduct dedicated nights of action in the next six months.

Essex’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has invested £1.1m to combat ASB in eleven hotspot areas across the county.

The funding is provided by central government as part of their Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy and is designed to deliver high visibility patrols, public engagement, targeted youth outreach and early intervention.

ASB has fallen in the district of Southend by 35% in the last 12 months with 1,233 fewer offences recorded. Across Essex, ASB has fallen by more than 60% in six years.

T/Inspector Dave Gardiner of Southend CPT said the dedicated patrols would help to extinguish issues before they escalated:

“Anti-social behaviour has a serious impact on the lives of victims. It’s not ‘low-level’ offending and if it’s not dealt with, it can escalate quickly and lead to other offending.

“In the zone that covers Southchurch Road, Christchurch Court and Christchurch Road, there have been issues with ASB from youths in the park, and in the low-rise flats that surrounded the park we have had reports of homeless people congregating, sex workers and drug-related ASB in the stairwells.

“In the area around Maple Square, there have also been ASB issues related to drugs and there are addresses in the zone that continue to be of interest to us.

“This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and nobody should have to put up with it in their neighbourhood.

“We work very closely with the council’s community safety team and will continue to provide a high-visibility presence to deter offending and reassure the community.

“The response locally has been very positive. People like seeing officers on foot patrol and it’s a great opportunity for us to stop and engage with people, listen to their issues and also gain useful intelligence.

“If you are a victim of anti-social behaviour, please report it to us by calling 101, message us via our website, or contact Crimestoppers or the local housing association if it relates to one of their properties. If you see a crime being committed, call 999.”

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