What is being done in Bradford to tackle scourge of ASB?

The issues blighting Bradfordians’ lives will be put in the spotlight at a meeting. 

Many of those will come as no surprise and include anti-social and dangerous driving, selfish use of fireworks, drug misuse, anti-social behaviour due to drinking, youths causing a nuisance and people living “street-based lives” causing anti-social behaviour.

Yobs harassing women and girls near the university and college is also a problem, says the report.

“It is sometimes perceived to be a minor problem without real impact but for many people it can be a real ordeal significantly affecting their quality of life,” the report says of anti-social behaviour.

An 'overall improvement in performance'

The report says there has been an “overall improvement in performance” in the majority of areas related to anti-social behaviour over the last year, based on police-recorded data.

“This followed significant increases over the period of the pandemic so the current falls in ASB are to be welcomed,” it adds.

“Overall ASB victim satisfaction for the Bradford district has risen steadily over the past 12 months.

“It started at a low point in October 2022 where Bradford was 20 per cent points behind the West Yorkshire average to a high point in September 2023 where the Bradford district has seen an increase in satisfaction of 10 per cent to 69.7 per cent satisfaction which is ahead of the West Yorkshire average and sees the Bradford district only 0.9 per cent behind the best placed West Yorkshire authority.”

Councillors will hear the results of several operations that have been launched to crackdown on the plague of ASB.

Anti-social behaviour - what is being done?

In looking at the performance of the Bradford District ASB team, it says: “In the last 12 months the team have overseen the issuing of 38 Final Warnings, 47 Acceptable Behaviour Orders, 183 ASB Amber Warning letters, one Community Protection Warning and two Community Protection Notices.

“One of the team’s greatest successes this year has been their obtaining 15 Criminal Behaviour Orders at court, owing to the huge amount of work involved in obtaining one.”

The work of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) is praised along with “excellent examples of collaborative working” - but the report says: “However, it is recognised that extra enforcement resourcing would be needed to make a really significant difference.”

Tackling those who blight Bradford's roads 

Operation Steerside, which tackles the anti-social and criminal use of roads of the Bradford district, is also assessed in the report.

Between October 2022 and September this year, more than 200 operations have been carried out.

This resulted in 2,623 Fixed Penalty Tickets/Traffic Offence Reports/Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme notices; 71 reports to the DVLA regarding untaxed vehicles; 405 Reports for Summons; 93 Section 59 warnings – this refers to vehicles being used in a manner which causes alarm, distress or annoyance; 300 vehicle seizures; 105 arrests; 20 PSPO notices, which are forwarded to the Council for retrospective enforcement.

The report adds: “There have been regular repeated instance of ‘car cruises’ taking place at the Euroway trading estate.

“The ASB team, Neighbourhood Service Area Team, Highways and the local Neighbourhood Policing Team have worked closely with residents and elected members to address the issue.

“Funding was sourced to install a CCTV camera capable of capturing the registration numbers of cars attending these car cruises. As a result of the footage captured a substantial number of PSPO breach notices.”

'Insidious behaviour' being tackled

Operation Soundwood has also been launched to tackle the harassment of women and girls.

“Uniformed officers were deployed to provide a visible deterrent to would-be offenders and to provide reassurance to potential victims of this insidious behaviour,” the report says.

“In tandem, plain-clothed officers were deployed to see if they would be accosted and harassed in the same manner as had been reported in the area.”

This led to cars being seized, Traffic Offence Reports issued, Section 59 warnings as well as five people being reported to court.

How did Bonfire Night 2023 go? 

Bonfire Night, traditionally a very busy period in Bradford, is touched on in the report.

“2023 continued the trend in recent years of reducing instances of crime and anti-social behaviour,” the report says.

It adds: “Local community volunteers, co-ordinated through the area office teams, were engaged in pre-emptive and proactive actions that minimised problems and controlled incidents before they got out of hand, especially in hot spot areas. This led to a number of potential incidents being minimised or avoided completely.”

The report will be discussed at a meeting of Bradford Council’s Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday.