Antisocial behaviour in Scarborough rose dramatically during every coronavirus lockdown

Between January 2017 and March 2021 the five months with the most reports of antisocial behaviour (ASB) in Scarborough all took place during a national lockdown.

At a time when people were being told to stay in their homes, figures obtained by The Scarborough News through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show that during the first lockdown from March to May 2020, reports of ASB in Scarborough rose by 130 per cent compared to the previous three months.

They increased again in November 2020 and from January to March 2021 when compared to previous years.

Antisocial behaviour in Scarborough

Antisocial behaviour includes activities such as graffiti, littering, vandalism, harassment, car racing and nuisance noise.

North Yorkshire Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Rebecca Lalor said that while this type of behaviour may not seem serious to some, it can disrupt whole communities and foster

an environment where more serious types of crime can take place.

She added: “Everyone has the right to feel safe in their home and community.

“Antisocial behaviour causes misery to the lives of victims, neighbourhoods and the wider community.

“It is not just restricted to one section of our community; people of all ages can be and are responsible.”

Antisocial behaviour in the town had been on a gradual decline in the years leading up to the pandemic, falling by 21 per cent from 2017 to 2019.

The trend continued into 2020 but as the lockdown restrictions came into effect, the number of reports began to climb.

Lockdown parties

In monthly figures, Scarborough was repeatedly the area where the most Covid penalty fines for breaches of lockdown rules were handed out by police in North Yorkshire.

By the end of January 2021, 92 people had been fined in Scarborough for illegal indoor gatherings, with police saying they were receiving reports of house parties “every night of the week”.

On one occasion a man was found hiding at an illegal house party by police in Scarborough when his legs were spotted dangling from an entrance to a loft.

Officers found the reveller in a ceiling hatch as they attended a report of a gathering.

Inspector Lalor said: “The main issue that we dealt with during lockdowns was reports of house parties.

“Other times, street drinking, drug taking and drug dealing in the town centre tend to be our most regular reports and this came out in a survey that the council have recently undertaken, and the results of which feed into the Community Impact Team.

“We as a police service will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and we work closely with Scarborough Borough Council and other partner agencies to tackle ASB within the community.”

Rise in 'environemtnal' ASB

ASB is split into three main categories, “personal” which is when a person targets a specific individual or group; “nuisance” which is when a person causes trouble or annoyance to a community; and “environmental” which refers to behaviour that affects the wider environment including public spaces and buildings.

The FOI data shows from 2017 until 2019 over two-thirds of reports made to police fell into the “nuisance” category with less than 5 per cent each year coming under “environmental”.

However, in 2020 25 per cent of reports were categorised as “environmental”, rising to 63 per cent in the first three months of this year.

Police are able to deal with reports of antisocial behaviour through the town’s Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), community protection notices (CPN), injunctions and criminal behaviour orders (CBO).

Inspector Rebecca Lalor added: “We will continue to tackle ASB hotspots in the town, but we can only do this with our local communities contacting us and telling us where the issues are.

“I would continue to urge anyone who feels that they are or have been a victim of ASB to get in touch with North Yorkshire Police by calling 101 or reporting it via the ‘report it’ tab on our website and clicking the anti-social behaviour option.”

What is North Yorkshire Police doing to combat antisocial behaviour?

The force runs Operation Ambience which is a multi-agency approach using visible patrols in the town to help to build confidence and trust in the community to report ASB to agencies.

Inspector Lalor said: “We know there are barriers to reporting for a myriad of reasons including that victims and witnesses think nothing will get done or they are too scared to report.

“Operation Ambience looks to break down these barriers and identify as early as possible any ongoing issues in the community.

“Officers also have weekly multi-agency taskings that discuss ASB cases and look to set shared actions to support victims and stop and/or prevent ASB, using both our criminal and civil legislation.”