Police anti-social behaviour calls in Dudley rise to 12 a day
Police are being called out up to 12 times a day to deal with yobs and other anti-social behaviour in Dudley.
There were 9,000 cases of anti-social behaviour in Dudley, including parts of Halesowen, in just two years – an incident every two hours.
Council bosses have now hit out at the nuisance behaviour, which they said puts an added strain on already stretched police resources.
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information request to West Midlands Police showed 4,701 incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported in 2015/16, while 4,359 were reported in 2016/17.
The data revealed incidents spiked between the hours of 4pm and 8am Monday to Friday, with 2,147 separate instances reported in 2016/17. While 810 were reported in the hours between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday in the same year.
In the Dudley borough, on Saturdays and Sundays 1,726 incidents were reported in 2015/16 and 1,402 in 2016/17.
Dudley Council leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, said: “I do think it is a strain on police. Anti-social behaviour is often not treated seriously enough. If it is dealt with at an early stage we could stop people committing more serious crimes.
“Quite often the police and council only get involved in the issues when complainants have suffered with weeks, months or years of problems.”
Chief Superintendent Richard Fisher said: “Calls regarding anti-social behaviour have remained steady over the last six years since we simplified the recording process in July 2012. There have been no significant changes in Dudley or the wider force area.
“We take reports of anti-social behaviour seriously and actively encourage people to report any concerns to us.”
Call police on 101 or use www.west-midlands.pnn.police.uk
