Brighton residents unite with police to tackle anti-social behaviour hotspot

The residents were linked by an alleyway that had become almost unusable at night due to anti-social behaviour and drug dealing, police say. The same issue affected green spaces around the church, which were becoming no-go areas.

The community came together, formed a WhatsApp group to share their concerns and started reporting to the police.

Sussex Police responded by police community support officer (PCSO) Kevin Creasey leading the way to put together a community profile documenting the key issues and setting out potential solutions.

Officers began making targeted patrols, parked a police vehicle during the day for visibility, installed a CCTV camera and arranged a community meeting to put residents in touch with the right partners across the city to address their concerns.

According to police residents are feeling safer and have a renewed sense of community and communication.

Acting chief inspector Andy Saville, of Brighton and Hove’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, said, “Our ongoing work around St Nicholas’ shows what we can achieve when communities come together.

“Police officers and PCSOs don’t just work with communities, they are central parts of them.

“Reporting crimes and concerns is absolutely vital for us to understand what issues are impacting our communities, what areas are particularly affected and where we should be targeting our resources.

“The recently launched StreetSafe online toolkit also allows residents to input areas where they feel unsafe or uneasy, which is then collated to allow us to identify potential hotspots.

“Please report crimes or concerns to us either online via the Sussex Police website, by calling 101 or by dialling 999 in an emergency.”

Report anti-social behaviour: https://www.sussex.police.uk/ro/report/asb/asb/report-antisocial-behaviour/