Almost 30 young people have signed an 'agreement' to stop antisocial behaviour in Lincoln
The initiative is aiming to tackle a number of issues across the city centre
27 young people who have been 'causing trouble' in Lincoln have signed a 'contract' to agree on how to stop antisocial behaviour.
The initiative is aiming to tackle a number of issues across the city centre near the bus station and the Cornhill area as well as the High Street.
Police say children as young as 12 have been involved in behaviour such as intimidating people, drinking and refusing to leave shops.
The Force says it saw a rise last summer in reports from concerned members of the public.
The 'acceptable behaviour contract' is tailored to the young person and could include a curfew or limiting how many people that socialise in a group with.
Police say it's hoped this step will help them to understand their behaviour is unacceptable and prevent their behaviour escalating further.
Since the summer, the police and City of Lincoln Council have issued 190 advice letters and spoken with parents and guardians, and a further 41 warning letters.
This involved an officer and someone from the council attending the home address to speak to the child and their parents or guardians to make them aware that this is more serious, and it was a last opportunity to change their behaviour before they would be asked to sign an ABC.
PC Molisa McGinnis has been working in the issue. She said:
“The anti-social behaviour escalated in the summer last year, and we started to see a rise in the number of reports coming in, and increased concerns from local businesses and members of the public.
"The issues were mainly affecting Central Car Park by the bus station, local businesses, the Cornhill, and High Street areas. Our officers and the City of Lincoln Council (CoLC) were receiving reports of youths threatening customers, refusing to leave stores, riding e-scooters and bikes on public footways, and drinking issues that mainly happened during the weekend between 6pm and 10pm.
“We knew that we needed to do something, and engaging these young people in a way that would help them understand what was and wasn’t okay was the way to go. We also had additional officers tasked with patrols, and the first step in most cases was to issue an initial warning to the children involved, which includes speaking to their parents or legal guardians. In a large number of those cases, we didn’t see repeated ASB.”
Lincolnshire Police have said:
"Whilst an 'acceptable behaviour contract' is not legally binding, if breached, it can be used as evidence to illustrate that enforcement action such as an injunction is required, because the non-legal tools have been unable to successfully tackle the problem.
"A first breach would involve a discussion with authorities, a second would require an attendance at an interview/appointment, and a third may lead to legal action.
"These contracts don’t take the place of prosecutions for criminal actions, and people will be dealt with if their actions tip the threshold into criminality."
Ben Jackson, Public Protection, Anti-Social Behaviour and Licensing Manager at City of Lincoln Council, said:
“Our Public Protection and Anti-Social Behaviour team are working closely with Lincolnshire Police to tackle youth anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Lincoln.
“We follow a process agreed by partners of the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership which ensures the youths and parents are offered the necessary support to avoid enforcement action. These Acceptable Behaviour Contracts are an effective tool in setting the expectations of the youth and rely on them following the requirements of the contract.
“Unfortunately, there are some youths who aren’t taking notice of these warnings. We want these individuals and their parents to be aware that the council can, and will, consider legal action against those that don’t accept help and who continue to engage in ASB.
“It is also important to note that where the youth reside in one of our council homes and are engaging in ASB, the parents could be subject to tenancy enforcement action. This could mean the council seeking possession of the family home. The objective is to stop the ASB and/or criminality whilst negating the need to criminalise youths.”