Question marks raised over sharp fall in anti-social behaviour in St Helens

Superintendent Tami Garvey-Jones, area commander for St Helens, provided the People’s Board with a snapshot of crimes in St Helens in 2018-19.

As previously reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, overall, crimes in St Helens rose by 10 per cent.

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Several crimes rose within the year – which Supt Garvey-Jones suggested could be down to improved recording by the force – including a 46 per cent increase in knife crimes and a 45 per cent rise in violence without injury.

Burglary decreased by four per cent, but the biggest reduction was in anti-social behaviour, which fell by 28 per cent and fell across the borough.

In 2018-19 there were 4,470 reports of anti-social behaviour in St Helens, down from 6,200 the previous year.

However, the fall was questioned by Labour’s Jeanie Bell, St Helens Council’s cabinet member for community safety.

Cllr Bell said residents tell councillors they no longer report anti-social behaviour because there is “no point”.

This was backed up by council leader David Baines, who said the anti-social-behaviour figures “stick out like a sore thumb”.

Cllr Baines said: “We do hear as councillors, I hear it all the time, regularly from residents and people who report things to me.

“And I’ll say, have you told the police? ‘Well no, what’s the point?’.

“It’s a cynical viewpoint but I think that might be playing a part in the reduction in ASB (anti-social-behaviour) being recorded.

“I just think people are not reporting it as much. “

Supt Garvey-Jones said the force encourages members of the public to report anti-social behaviour online.

However, the St Helens area commander questioned whether the force was recording anti-social behaviour properly.

Supt Garvey-Jones said: “I think we do work and respond to anti-social behaviour calls.

“We listen to our partners, we listen to the community, but are we also recording and recording it properly?

“It is something I am going to look at going forward.

“So if we do see differences in recording, it is something I’m strategically going to highlight inside the force and it is something we are paying close attention to.

Superintendent Tami Garvey-Jones, area commander for St Helens

“Because what we did internally was change how we record anti-social behaviour, but we also have been sign-posting callers to our local authority partners and our RSLs, registered social landlords, so maybe that’s where we need to get the rich anti-social behaviour picture from.”

Supt Garvey-Jones said Friday evening is the main night for anti-social behaviour, with Saturday seeing day being the most common.

Tackling the use of scrambler bikes is still a priority for St Helens, Supt Garvey-Jones said.

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She told the board that there was a 14 per cent reduction in scrambler bike use in 2018-19.

Supt Garvey-Jones said the force is currently dealing with the misuse of scrambler bikes in Queens Park.

She admitted the force cannot always deploy to every incident, given the level of cuts it has faced in recent years, and said a partnership approach is needed.