Labour demands blitz on anti-social behaviour after 20,000 reports to police
Reports of anti-social behaviour to police by ward - Credit: Archant
Police received almost 20,000 reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Tower Hamlets last year – equivalent to 54 a day.
A total of 19,412 reports were recorded by police. The figures were obtained by Tower Hamlets Labour Party, who used them to accuse the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, of being “complacent on crime.”
Anti-social behaviour can range from drunken or threatening behaviour to vandalism, graffiti or playing loud music at night. However, the data only refers to reports and not actual crimes.
The total number of recorded offences of anti-social behaviour in the borough last year was 1,425 cases.
In a breakdown by council ward of ASB reports Whitechapel ward had the highest number with 1,803, followed by Bethnal Green South at 1,716 and Weavers at 1488.
Bethnal Green North was much lower at 939 and the ward with the least number of reports was St Katharine’s and Wapping with 696.
The amount of overall crime reported between July and September this year dropped from 2,691 to 2,263, but the annual crime figures for the borough have risen by more than 2,500 since 2010/11.
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Cllr Mizan Chaudhury, Labour spokeman for crime and community safety, said: “With 54 reports of anti-social behaviour every day of the year the Mayor should have got the message that this is a challenge which needs tackling.”
John Biggs, Labour’s mayoral candidate said: “Whenever I speak to people in Tower Hamlets the thing I hear time and time again is that not enough is being done to crackdown on anti-social behaviour. The more I listen to people’s concerns the more I realise that the current mayor just doesn’t get the problem.”
A council spokeman said: “The council funds 34 police officers who are dedicated to tackling ASB and drugs in Tower Hamlets and these officers also ensure ASB is recorded and encourage reporting.
“We have a dedicated team who review the ASB data and use it to deploy and direct a range of council and police teams to deal with the issues reported in the most efficient and effective way.”
