South Yorkshire Police reveal initiatives to tackle “unrest” in Maltby

South Yorkshire Police say they have set up a raft of initiatives to tackle anti-social behaviour in Maltby.

The issue of antisocial behaviour has been a long-running concern in the area – In April 2021 the Covid testing site at Maltby Leisure Centre had to close early after reports that stones were thrown at staff, and a ‘trojan bus’ which is staffed by police drives around the bus routes in the area to deter such behaviour.

Councillor Adam Tinsley, Conservative councillor for Maltby East, told an RMBC cabinet meeting in January that residents are ‘worried about the increase in antisocial behaviour and commercial burglaries, which is seeing most businesses being robbed and broken into over the last 24 months’.

Chief Superintendent Stephen Chapman, district commander for Rotherham, told a meeting of the police and crime commissioner public accountability board today (March 9): “There’s been a lot of work going on both collectively as a partnership and individually from a council and a police perspective.

“I think we could have communicated those measures or the actions that we take a little bit better than we have done, but we’ve picked that up in the last three to four weeks as we’ve seen some of the unrest in Maltby.

“We’ve had foot patrols in those areas, which is all about visible policing.

“We’ve also had our TSU resources up there, which has meant we’ve done five drugs warrants.

“We’ve allocated seven anti social behaviour contracts to young people up there, and we’ve done six of those keep safe initiates, as well as the two trojan bus operations. “

A report to update Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, outlined a number of initiatives that are underway to tackle the issue.

The report states that the area around the High Street and Coronation Park has a POP plan in place to manage the ongoing issues around ASB and drug use.

POP plans, or problem-oriented policing plans, aim to diagnose and solve problems that are increasing crime risks in areas experiencing higher crime levels.

The report adds that police have carried out six keep safe operations in the area over the last twelve months, which sees youth services and officers reaching out to younger people across the town during times when groups of children congregate.

These operations “often generate community intelligence linked toorganised crime and gives real opportunity to agencies to engage and identify early intervention opportunities to divert our young people away from crime,” adds the report.

The south neighbourhood policing team meet regularly with key partners, councillors, and “are in regular contact with the local MP”.

Patrols have been increased in areas of increased demand, which include foot and cycle patrols to allow more bespoke engagement with the public.