Chelmsford: Anti-social behaviour falls as CPT target offenders

Officers from Chelmsford’s Community Policing Team (CPT) are continuing to drive down anti-social behaviour (ASB) with a series of operations to tackle offending.

ASB in Chelmsford district has fallen by 37.5% in the past 12 months with 1,288 fewer offences committed.

Across the whole county, there were 9,416 fewer ASB incidents – a 38.5% drop.

Chelmsford has hotspot patrolling zone around Moulsham Street as part of Operation Dial, and the CPT have also targeted drug dealing, street drinking and e-scooter riding.

Eighteen individuals have been issued criminal behaviour orders (CBOs) that place conditions on where they can go, limiting their ability to reoffend. Breaching a CBO is a criminal offence.

The Moulsham hotspot zone has seen 19 arrests made, 40 stop searches, 30 informal warnings given and 16 fixed penalty notices issued.

Chelmsford city centre is also covered by a Public Space Protection Order that could see anyone drinking alcohol in a way that causes other people distress or behaving in a threatening, abusive or aggressive manner landed with a £1,000 fine from the council.

Inspector Sam Girdlestone of Chelmsford CPT said:

“Anti-social behaviour can have a huge impact on a community and lead to other forms of offending.

"The city centre is used by people of all ages, and we don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when they’re here.

“We work closely with the council as part of the Community Safety Partnership and together we act quickly to deal with issues ranging from drug dealing to reckless use of bikes and e-scooters.

“Recently, as well as our hotspot patrols on Moulsham Street, we’ve been paying particular attention to the area around the bus station and parts of Great Baddow.

“Our most prolific offenders are currently either in prison or have CBOs, and we’ve prosecuted a number of drug dealers.

“The reduction in offending shows the initiatives are working but we will continue to target anyone committing ASB.”

Insp Girdlestone added that his team want to know when the public see offending taking place as it helps them build a clearer picture of ASB in the district:

 “Please report any incidents to us. You can call 101, contact us through the Essex Police website, or report ASB online through the council website.

“If the public tell us about where they’ve seen issues or there’s places they have concerns about, we can do something about it.”

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