Police hail crackdown on yobs

5:20pm Thursday 24th July 2008

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A POLICE crackdown on bad behaviour which included sending parents letters asking them to monitor their children has helped improve the quality of life for residents.

But officers warned today they would still be monitoring out-of-control youths. Earlier this year officers were inundated with calls from residents from the Heworth and Huntington areas of York, complaining of youths fighting, underage drinking, threatening behaviour and criminal damage to vehicles.

Night after night, from November 2007 until January this year, officers said they received calls from concerned locals witnessing the yobbish and antisocial behaviour.

As reported in The Press in January, the scale of concern from the residents prompted police to send out a stern warning letter to parents, asking them to monitor their out-of-hand children.

Sergeant John Freer, of the Safer Neighbourhood Team for Heworth, Huntington and New Earswick, said at the time that the letter was set out to warn parents that antisocial behaviour would not be tolerated.

He said: “It might not sound like the biggest crime wave around, but when it is happening in the same area day after day, people get cheesed off.

“There is no acceptable level of antisocial and criminal behaviour; it does not have to be a part of life.” Police stepped up their patrols in the areas and used covert cameras to help collar offenders behind the crimes.

Sgt Freer said today that more bobbies on the beat have helped reduce the amount of antisocial behaviour in the area.

He said: “The general feeling in the area is that things have definitely improved since we sent out the letter in January.

“The months of November, December and January were horrendous. We were getting several calls each night, and there was one particularly bad weekend when we had about 18 calls from concerned residents.

“This has significantly improved now. I think the increased presence from local officers have lessened the extent of the types of behaviour seen earlier this year and have helped reassure a lot of the local residents.”

Sgt Freer warned that though conditions have improved, officers will continue to keep a close watch on the area.

“Problems have not ceased altogether in the area,” he said. “There are still a few issues with rowdy youths drinking who are causing a few problems, but we are keeping a close eye on problem areas and we will crack down on any antisocial behaviour.”