More patrols as Wiltshire Police identify over 30 anti-social behaviour areas
It is part of the national Safer Streets Summer initiative
More patrols are taking place across Wiltshire to tackle anti-social behaviour and make town centres safer.
Wiltshire Police has identified 34 anti-social behaviour hotspots in five places across the county.
It comes as a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) was put in place in Swindon in August, joining Salisbury and Devizes which both saw PSPOs introduced in 2024.
Philip Wilkinson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said: “We increase our patrolling in the evenings, in particular on weekends and on paydays, the last Friday of the month, when we know a lot of people have got a bit of cash and go out and have fun.
“We want to create an environment where they can do that quite safely. So, it's using intelligence and a strategic threat assessment to identify where it's more likely that there is going to be anti-social behaviour and focusing our efforts there to make sure we mitigate those risks.
“We want people to enjoy living in Wiltshire and feel safe living in Wiltshire. We want our town centres, our countryside and the whole county to be a convivial place in which to live.”
The patrols are part of the Safer Streets Summer scheme that is taking place across the country.
Other measures include better CCTV coverage, the introduction of accredited taxi marshals, the installation of lights in dark areas and specialist training for bar staff and door supervisors.
The initiative focuses on Salisbury, Swindon, Trowbridge, Chippenham and Marlborough and is realised through a collaboration between the PCC’s office, Wiltshire Police and the county’s two unitary authorities, Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council.
“It is just really important that that we create an environment where people feel safe, so they have a decent quality of life”, added Mr Wilkinson.
“If you spend the whole week or the whole day working really hard, you want to be able to go out in the evening with your friends, have a few drinks and enjoy yourself without feeling that you could be harassed by people who are drunk, drugged or just anti-social individuals.
“So, it's great that we can do that working together.”
He also encouraged the public to share any information or issues, so that Police can work on them.
“Without that information, we don't know where to focus our efforts”, Mr Wilkinson explained.
“It is really important that people tell us what the problems are. It is no good having a moan about something that happened to you if you didn't tell us about it or ask for help.”