New front-line team to tackle street based anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Westminster

A new front-line team to tackle street based anti-social behaviour is being launched by Westminster City Council.

The six-person unit – called the Street Based Intervention team – is made up from officers with experience in rough sleeping and city management issues.

It can be deployed to wherever ASB is reported. The team is being deployed to the Victoria area to help turn around some of the persistent street-based ASB problems in the area. It will then be expanded to other areas of the city facing similar issues once progress is made and sustained in its initial deployment.

The team will be able to issue community protection notices and warnings to individuals for bad behaviour, for example anti-social street drinking. Sanctions will extend through civil powers available to the council to seeking the authority to ban people from specific areas via a court order.

The new unit will also be able to draw on Westminster City Council’s extensive experience in supporting rough sleepers to speed up help for those with the most severe addiction or mental health needs.

The new Westminster team will work bring together colleagues from the City Inspector Service, the Housing Needs Rough Sleeping Coordinators and ASB caseworkers and will also work alongside key partners like Business Improvement Districts and their security teams, Outreach partners and the Police.

It will focus its initial efforts on areas with known anti-social behaviour problems linked to rough sleeping and aggressive begging, starting this week in Victoria.

Cllr Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, said:

“Our streets are to be shared and enjoyed by all our residents and should be welcome and safe for all who visit, shop, or work here. Our new team will hold to account those who do not respect our City.

“Sadly, some people take to our streets and commit ASB, deal drugs and cause harm to local neighbourhoods. These people exploit some of the most vulnerable in society and we must make a stand. We know that this City experiences some of the highest levels of rough sleeping, but many of these individuals have accommodation elsewhere and have no links to our City. It is for this reason that we will not hesitate to hold those to account through our new integrated team.”

The Street Based Intervention Team is another new community assurance initiative being delivered by the Council. It complements initiatives like the network of 100 mobile CCTV cameras which are being rolled out this year, and which can be sent to areas were residents and other organisations flag problems.

“ASB is corrosive and unacceptable to local people and businesses who should not be living in fear or finding their livelihoods curtailed by anti-social behaviour,” said Cllr Hug. “Our aim is to ensure these problems don’t affect neighbourhoods while those sleeping rough get the targeted help they need.”

Mick Clarke, chief executive of The Passage, said: 

“The streets are a terrifying place to find oneself, not least because of criminals who prey on the vulnerability of people who are street homeless. The Passage is proud to work in collaboration with WCC and other partner agencies to prevent people from spending even one night on the streets and, for those who do, to help them off the streets as quickly and safely as possible. We therefore welcome the new ASB team which is being introduced to safeguard all in our community, providing additional support for the most vulnerable people who find themselves on the streets and at risk of being targeted.”