Over 5,000 hours have been completed in police officer patrols to tackle anti-social behaviour - 1,362 in Doncaster

Officers have been completing high visibility patrols in identified areas across the force which see higher incidents involving anti-social behaviour.

In total, 48 areas across South Yorkshire have been identified as hotspot areas, with 12 in each district. A forcewide operation has been launched to tackle the offences seen in these areas, with the aim of reducing rates and improving the area for the local community and residents.

Between July and November 2023, a total of 5,059 hours of patrols have been put in place, with over 1,332 in Barnsley, 1,362 in Doncaster, 1,152 in Rotherham and 1,211 in Sheffield.

Patrols are being conducted by officers and street wardens from each local authority, providing a joint approach in tackling ASB across South Yorkshire. The off-road bike team are also carrying out patrols and local neighbourhood policing teams have been conducting extra days of actions in the identified hotspot areas.

Chief Inspector John Mallows, who leads the operation, said: “We want everyone to feel that South Yorkshire is a safe place to live. Anti-social behaviour can have lasting and devastating effects on local communities.

“Anti-social behaviour can include noise, littering, off-road nuisance bikes, drug and alcohol misuse and begging. We have responsibility over some of these behaviours and your local council has responsibility over others. This is why it is important that we work with partners to tackle these issues together.”

The patrols are showing signs of early success with 28 arrests being completed during patrol times. Officers are taking to the streets looking for any signs of nuisance behaviour, combating the issues there and then.

These increased hours have also had a positive impact on the local communities, with residents and business owners commenting on the impact the patrols have had.

One business owner commented that “patrols are effective in disrupting the youths outside my shop”, with another commenting that “there has been a large decrease in ASB and other offences within the store since patrols started”. A local resident also reflected that the police patrols had made the area much quieter and that local drug dealing no longer occurred outside his address.

More information about different examples of anti-social behaviour and which agency is best to report it o can be found on our website here: https://www.southyorkshire.police.uk/find-out/crime-prevention-advice/asb/