Government to give police forces £66m for nationwide rollout of “hotspot” patrols tackling anti-social behaviour

Every police force in England and Wales is to receive at least £1m to roll out so-called “hotspot” patrols targeting areas with high levels of anti-social behaviour, the Government has announced.

The approach has already been piloted in 10 areas, with more than 80,000 hours of uniformed patrols in the six months since it launched.

The Government said this had led to nearly 600 arrests, close to 1,500 stop and searches and around 700 uses of ASB powers such as community protection notices and public protection orders.

It said the pilots had seen ASB cut by more than 40% in Brunswick, Lancashire, while incidents in Southend have almost halved in the last 12 months.

The nationwide rollout, backed by £66m funding for England and Wales, is expected to enable each force to deploy uniformed patrols for up to 20,000 hours each year.

Across all 43 forces areas, this will support between 600,000 and 900,000 hours of hotspot patrols over the next year, the Government said.

The Government has set “an ambitious new target to smash another 1,000 county lines" by August.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We will not stop until every person, no matter where they live, can feel safe and proud of their community. That is why we are investing in every police force in England and Wales so they can tackle violence and disorder head on.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Getting more officers out and visible in communities is vital for public confidence. We have delivered 20,000 additional police officers and we’re making sure they are tackling those visible crimes, like anti-social behaviour, which have a corrosive effect on people’s sense of safety."

The move is part of the Governnment’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, launched by the Prime Minister in March 2023, which included measures that would see previous anti-social behaviour offenders deprioritised for social housing.