'There is a feeling that one can act badly with relative impunity in Sheffield' - reader's letter
Star reader Sean Rider has written an open letter to the city’s politicians calling for action on anti-social behaviour in the city.
To Whom It May Concern,
I'm writing to you as my representatives or candidates to become representatives of the area I live in.
I personally feel the last 24 months have seen an increase in the rate at which anti-social behaviour is becoming more commonplace in Sheffield.
1-6 below have seen a dramatic increase in public spaces recently.
1. Talking on smartphones on loudspeaker in public
2. Playing media on smartphone loudspeakers in public
3. Riding blind round corners on pavements on bicycles and electric motor vehicles
4. Weaving in and out of pedestrians in pedestrian areas on bicycles and electric motor vehicles, but also joggers and skateboarders shouting 'left' or 'right'
5. Letting off fireworks (whose purpose seems to be noise volume rather than display) in residential areas, day after day for many weeks, and often throughout the day from early afternoon till early morning - clearly unrelated to any celebration
6. Letting off fireworks past 11pm (11pm is too late for working residents anyway)
The issues I list below seem pretty constant. If the issues below are getting worse, it is not at the accelerated rate of those above.
7. Fly tipping
8. Leaving bins out blocking the pavement throughout the week
9. Spitting on the pavement
10. Ignoring/ignorance of road laws (too many to list) especially where it inconveniences or endangers pedestrians and cyclists.
11. Cigarette butts on the street
12. Littering
In addition, there is an increase in a type of character that was more rarely seen up till a few months ago. Pasty complexion, scraggly hair/beard, hooded, with old, dark, dirty-looking clothes. I don't get the impression they are homeless: it seems more of a 'style'. Usually in groups of 2 or 3. Almost invariably arguing, often about small sums of cash.
They've always existed in smaller numbers, but now there are more - a bit like how it was like in the 80s after heroin hit communities. They are low-key aggressive, as in I've seen many threats of the type: "What are you looking at?", but so far no actual violence. The threats I've seen have all been against elderly (pension-age) men. I've seen elderly women clearly feeling intimidated but not directly threatened. To give an idea of numbers, I'd say in the past 2 months I've seen about 6 incidents, though I see the characters themselves around the town centre most days.
This is just to inform that any complacency regarding the status quo right now is not shared by me. It's a general topic of conversation among work colleagues, friends and family. I know people always complain, but this is different: there is a feeling that one can act badly with relative impunity in Sheffield.
In terms of what can be objectively measured - I've never before in my life experienced, in this country or abroad, anything remotely like the constant fireworks throughout October this year. How is this possible? I've had no response from the police and the council just replied it is a policing issue. This is nothing like previous years, when a few days at a time might see repose ruined by adolescents. Now it is every single day for nearly a month.
Abtisam Mohamed - apologies for some repetition. I appreciate the fact that you or your team have corresponded with me over some of these issues.
On a positive note, I'd like to acknowledge the proactive response of Veolia to fly-tipping and bin obstruction in Highfield (S2). It's at the early stages, but they have already sent out an inspector and sent a letter to residents, which has produced some improvement.
Kind regards,
Sean Rider
Holland Road
Highfield
Sheffield