Central Bedfordshire Council news and press releases

We're cracking down on crime and anti-social behaviour with 23 new community safety roles

Friday, 29 January 2021

We've introduced 23 new roles within our community safety team to assist in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour across the area.

15 of the new officers have undertaken a community safety accreditation scheme, which gives them a range of additional powers usually only available to police, such as the authority to request the name and address of a person acting in an anti-social manner and to be able to seize alcohol from a person under 18 in a public place. The officers will be able to issue fixed penalty notices, up to the value of £400 where required for certain offences. These powers will also help officers tackle local issues and low-level crime, which in turn helps to serve communities better and keep them safer.

The new officers will also be tackling issues around anti-social behaviour like graffiti, shoplifting, street drinking and also environmental crimes such as fly-tipping, dog fouling, littering and noise issues. They are part of a wider community safety team that helps improve local communities across Central Bedfordshire. Together, the team will be undertaking regular patrols and visits to towns and villages, talking to residents and businesses about any issues that are affecting them and what could be done to make their lives better. The team is able to respond to issues faster, and is able to share local intelligence with the police.

During the current pandemic, officers will also be undertaking regular checks to ensure businesses and the public are adhering to government COVID-19 guidelines and offering advice and support where needed.

We're received lots of positive feedback from residents who have come into contact with the team and have already been involved in helping with a number of issues in the community. These have included safeguarding homeless and vulnerable adults, providing assistance to an elderly person who had collapsed in the street, alerting emergency authorities to a gas leak in a town centre, and finding concealed knives in a wooded area.

Councillor Ian Dalgarno, our Executive Member for Community Services, said:

During these difficult times, it has become apparent that now, more than ever, we must continue to take a proactive approach to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. I am delighted to welcome our new officers who are already out undertaking patrols and talking to residents and businesses about the issues affecting them and what could be done to make their lives safer and more satisfying.

With so many new officers out in the community, we are now able to improve our support to the local community, by responding to issues faster, sharing local intelligence with the police and generally have more visibility and presence in the community. This in turn helps people to feel safer and allows us to deal with low level crime.

Low levels of crime and anti-social behaviour are important in making somewhere a good place to live and work. We know feeling safe is really important to our residents and we are responding to this by having these new uniformed officers out and about, making our streets safer for all.