More officers take to the streets to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence

Officers have been giving up more of their time to patrol the streets of Newark in a bid to address issues of anti-social behaviour and serious violence.
It forms part of the £1.5 million funding, known as the Hotspot Response Fund, recently granted to Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire from the Home Office, which will see increased uniformed patrols out in different areas of the county in 2024/2025.
PC Marcus Bloomfield, an officer in the Newark neighbourhood policing team and PC Ali Hussain from the Newark response team went out during the evening of May 17.
Both officers provided a visible presence on foot in and around the library gardens, Sconce and Devon Park, Hawtonville, the London Road car parks as well as in the town centre.
These are areas in Newark have been identified by police and partners having issues of youth related anti-social behaviour, including groups harassing residents and business owners through intimidating them or interfering with personal or public property.
Local issues including groups of young people riding their bikes on the roof of the local Co-op, playing knock and run on elderly resident’s doors as well as off-road dirt biking on pavements and in public spaces.
Measures to tackle this include dispersal and public space protection orders which police can use.
The initiative, which will run until 2025, will see officers spend two hours in the proximity of one area before moving onto another. This is based on academic studies from the College of Policing which shows that frequent and short patrols are most effective at reducing crime.
The hotspot patrols enable officers to focus solely on engaging with the public and addressing any problems businesses or residents may raise to them whilst they are out.
In the long term the scheme will help lower reports of anti-social behaviour through having more officers operating in peak times within each hotspot area.