COMMUNITIES across Hampshire are being urged to join forces with the police to slash yobbish behaviour on our streets. Hampshire Police has today (Friday) launched a three-tier campaign aimed at reducing anti- social behaviour and keeping youngsters safe during the long summer holidays. The initiative - launched to coincide with the start of the school summer holidays - will see education and awareness campaigns undertaken to encourage parents to take greater responsibility for their children and high-visibility police patrols providing enforcement and reassurance. And from next month, police will be encouraging licensees across Hampshire to sign up to Challenge 21 - a scheme which requires licensed premises to check identification for anyone who looks under 21 in a bid to ensure that under-18s who look like adults are still asked to prove their age. The campaign comes after Home Office figures show that two-thirds of teenagers who drink commit nuisance behaviour. With this in mind, police officers together with police community support officers (PCSOs) and special constables will be confiscating alcohol from underage drinkers and issuing fixed penalty notices for disorder. Test purchasing operations will also be carried out to find out which shops, pubs and bars are responsible for selling alcohol to under 18s. Inspector Tony Tipping, of Alton Police, told The Herald that the campaign was building on the work already being undertaken in the town, including the operation of mobile CCTV equipment. "We have got the East Hampshire District Council's community support CCTV van operating locally now," he said. "When we identify children behaving anti- socially, we will video it and show the parents. On the whole parents are very, very positive in Alton. They tend to be quite shocked when they see the video and are quite helpful. "I would encourage the people of Alton to let us know when they see someone behaving anti-socially in the town then we can make sure we deploy the resources to deal with it." One area in the town which has suffered from yobbish behaviour is the area outside Alton Community Centre - so much so that police are applying to have a dispersal order put in place in the locality. Sanctioned by the Anti- Social Behaviour Act 2003, this would enable police to move on groups of youths causing a nuisance and ban them from returning for up to 24 hours. After 9 pm officers would also be able to take unsupervised under 16s home to their parents. Centre manager Richard Swainston has welcomed the summer-long campaign. "I think it is a marvellous idea Anything that is going to help what is a difficult situation in Alton has got to be good," he said. "We need to tackle this in a variety of ways. The police having a higher profile and being proactive rather than reactive is a good thing." Mr Swainston encouraged the public to report any instances of anti-social behaviour to the police. "The police have a very difficult job to do in this situation and any support that the community can give them has got to be good," he said. "Parents need to take responsibility for their children too - that really is the first step that needs to be taken." Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan, who is leading the campaign, said: "We're not trying to vilify young people and we're certainly not saying that teenagers are the only ones responsible for anti-social behaviour. "However, we do recognise that many children and teenagers spend the six-week holiday with little adult supervision and sometimes it is easy for them to unintentionally become involved in nuisance behaviour – or worse put themselves in danger. Very often young people are also the victims of anti-social behaviour, so the campaign also aims to improve children's safety." He added: "Nobody should have to put up with anti-social behaviour and we will do everything we can to tackle disorder and reduce the availability of alcohol to young people. "Children get their alcohol from somewhere and often they sneak it out of their parents' homes. That's why we need to increase public awareness and encourage people to think about whether their children could have access to alcohol, be involved in anti-social behaviour or be putting themselves in danger. "I want to be clear that I am not blaming anti- social behaviour on parents. However, this is certainly an issue that we cannot tackle on our own, so we are relying on parents to work in partnership with us to ensure that everyone can enjoy the summer safely." As part of the drive, radio advertising and bus shelter posters will be used in target areas to encourage parents to take greater responsibility for where their children are and what they are doing during the summer. l For further information about the summer campaign and anti-social behaviour visit http://www.hampshire.police">www.hampshire.police .uk
