Police launches new operation focusing on ASB and violent crime in Slough town centre

Thames Valley Police has officially launched a new operation focusing on anti-social behaviour (ASB) and violent crime in Slough town centre.

The Home Office has allocated £46,000 to Operation Catalyst which was unveiled to the public at the force’s ‘It’s That Dangerous!’ pop-up event in the Observatory Shopping Centre on Monday.

PC Emily Hutt, lead on the operation, said: “We do something every year called Safer Streets.

“The issue with ASB is that a lot of the time it is under-reported and that makes it a really hard thing to measure, and then when it is reported, it’s reported in very different ways.”

Anti-social behaviour ‘is often tied up with other things’, PC Hutt explained.

“So, it might be you’ve got a public order offence and then it’s got a flag for anti-social behaviour.

“What we were finding is we were out and about talking to people, and they’re saying ‘there’s this issue with street drinking, there’s this issue with the town feeling a bit run down or underdeveloped’,” she added.

The force is aware that an increase in foot traffic, particularly in the summer ‘adds to these issues’.

Violence-based offences cover anything from criminal damage to public order incidents, assault, and weapons offences.

PC Hutt added: “I basically recognised that a lot of our crimes, as such, are very often influenced by anti-social behaviour.

“We do get ASB
reports but not as much as people are saying that it’s happening.”

As part of the work, three ways have been identified to tackle this.

The first involves targeting offenders, either through criminal prosecutions or targeted support.

The second involves the introduction of more automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and CCTV cameras, better signage for the pedestrian zone and looking at whether trees can be cut back to improve overlook.

Thirdly, the initiative also looks to boost the force’s visibility both in person and online and provide more targeted engagement.

Work on the operation, which is being conducted across two neighbourhood teams, started about eight months ago when the force had partnership meetings linking up with partners and local organisations to try and build up information, beyond what the police already had in its systems.

Last month, officers joined with organisations including Slough Borough Council’s homeless team and the representatives of Turning Point, a social enterprise delivering health and social care services, on an outreach walk around areas in the town centre, which was a ‘big success’, PC Hutt said.

Another walk with key partners is also in the works.

Having done lots of background work, PC Hutt said the teams are now focusing on public facing initiatives under the Operation Catalyst umbrella.

This includes the ‘It’s that Dangerous!’ campaign, which encourages reporting of ASB and a Crimestoppers campaign to highlight that information is ‘key’ for the force.

Monday’s pop-up event officers saw speak to at least 20 people about the operation and the work being done to tackle ASB at the engagement stand in the shopping centre.

PC Hutt said she is ‘happy’ with how the operation has gone so far.

“Ultimately, we want people to feel safe using the town centre.

“Whether we necessarily, on paper, reduce offences or not, we might actually see an increase in the first couple of months where people are reporting more.

“What I would say would be more of a win is if we do this public survey in six months’ time and people feel safe and people want to talk to the police,” she explained.