Thames Valley Police launch antisocial behaviour campaign
They're urging victims and witnesses to report incidents
Thames Valley Police has launched a new campaign in a bid to get more people to report antisocial behaviour.
The force has teamed up with Milton Keynes College to bring the campaign empowerment, encouraging victims and witnesses of ASB to report it.
Loud music, drug use, disruptive neighbours and disruptive road users are just some of the things which come into ASB.
Whilst ASB itself is not always categorised as a crime, it does fall into different types, including Personal ASB, Nuisance ASB and Environmental ASB.
Thames Valley Police visited Milton Keynes College last year, to speak with graphic design students about ASB and it's impact on communities, as well as asking them for their help in designing posters to go alongside the campaign.
The winning design was by student Chiamaka Ahaneku.
What impact does ASB have?
A report by Resolve UK on ASB, published in 2024, shows how more than five million incidents were likely to have occurred nationwide in 2023.
It also showed that one in seven of us has been forced to consider moving home, with one in four left feeling unsafe in the local area.
Thames Valley Police are keen for people to report these incidents, to help them get to the root cause of ASB in our communities.
Head of Thames Valley Police’s Community Policing Command, Superintendent John Batty, said: “Antisocial behaviour can take many forms, from noise nuisance and graffiti to neighbour disputes and drug dealing. It can be a real blight on people’s lives.
“ASB is not a crime in itself but a description for a number of behaviours, many of which can be criminal offences.
“The police are not always the agency with the right powers to tackle every ASB issue, for instance local authorities have the powers to deal with noise nuisance.
“However, it is important that agencies work in partnership, to identify and tackle the root causes of ASB.
“In order to do that effectively, we need people who are affected by ASB to report it to us.”
YouGov data also shows that more than half of victims and witnesses to ASB do not report them, with only 26% last year reporting the incident to police.
Thames Valley Police say "If the issue is serious to you, it is serious to us. It’s that loud, it’s that hurtful, it’s that risky. It’s that antisocial. "