Police officers say they don't want to see "up and coming" Beeston being spoiled by anti-social behaviour as specially-funded patrols tackling the problem come to an end. Verbal abuse and shoplifting are just some of the offences carried out by children as young as nine that authorities have been cracking down on since November.
Broxtowe Borough Council leader Milan Radulovic was among those who said that "patience was at an end" with the level of anti-social behaviour being faced by Beeston's residents and businesses. Particular areas of concern included Beeston town centre, Chilwell Road and several tram stops in the town.
But officers now say they are confident anti-social behaviour has been brought down to a level which will be easier to manage alongside their other duties. At the end of 2022, Nottinghamshire Police said reports of anti-social behaviour had fallen by around a third from its peak last August.
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The force said it was as a result of the work being done under Operation Potassium, the project launched by police and partners including Broxtowe Borough Council on October 31 last year. One of the primary actions taken under the operation has been specially funded overtime patrols by officers, lasting for four hours at a time.
Given the significant reduction in anti-social behaviour being reported, the last dedicated patrol took place on Thursday night (January 26). As part of the national Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action, highlighting the work done by local policing teams, Nottinghamshire Live joined PC Katie Brough and PC Sam Gledhill for the final Operation Potassium patrol. Despite visiting most of the areas that were once deemed hotspots for anti-social behaviour, no problems were seen at all during the hour that we spent with the officers.
Our trip encapsulated journeys on the tram network, which emerged as a particular problem last year, as well as on-foot patrols in the town centre and a drive around the wider Beeston and Chilwell area. Speaking about the importance of the work that has been taking place, PC Sam Gledhill said: "Beeston is a really up-and-coming place and we are very lucky here that we have a lot of independent bars and restaurants and we have the cinema. It is a great area and we don't want to see it spoiled by bad behaviour."
The tram operator NET has been working alongside police given that anti-social behaviour both at tram stops and on the trams themselves was a particular problem when Operation Potassium was launched. PC Katie Brough said: "NET has been working really well with us in reporting incidents as soon as they come in, because we were seeing a lot of problems on the tram network.
"We were hearing of people committing offences and then jumping on to a tram to move on to the next area, whether that be going into Chilwell, Hucknall or even into the city centre. We were able to jump on to those trams and very often the people causing problems were pretty distinctive because they go in a pack. They would often get off the tram as soon as we got on, but then we would immediately get back off and engage with them."
During an on-foot patrol of the town centre, the officers called in at the Arc Cinema in Beeston. The officers said issues faced by the cinema had included young people being abusive to customers and not paying for tickets.
But Ezra Watson, the cinema's manager, said such incidents have now plummeted. He said: "We had been seeing a lot of young people coming in and causing a real nuisance. A lot of our regulars were noticing it as well so it was important that it was dealt with.
"I have been here for six months and so I know it was a real problem, but over the last month and particularly over the Christmas period it has definitely dropped. We've had some really quick responses from police as well when we have reported incidents."
PC Brough said that the ability to respond quickly to incidents was as a direct result of the dedicated patrols. She said: "Different officers do it differently, but I like to make sure that as well as patrolling in the car, we do a lot of on-foot patrolling. People like to see that the police are out and they like to see that we are talking and engaging with those who have been causing issues.
"We've been taking very immediate action on some occasions, such as giving out banning letters to people if they have committed offences in certain shops. We have found that anti-social behaviour often ends up leading on to other types of crime such as shoplifting, so it's really important to nip it in the bud."
Although the specially funded patrols are now coming to an end, PC Brough said it was simply a matter of using resources most effectively given that anti-social behaviour has now fallen so significantly in Beeston. But Nottinghamshire Police stresses that it will cement its work by both continuing to monitor anti-social behaviour closely, and also by now moving on to engage with the young people they have dealt with in a more positive way.
PC Sam Gledhill added: "The visibility has been really important because we wanted the people causing problems to know that we weren't going to tolerate it. We shouldn't minimise the impact that anti-social behaviour can have on a community."
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