A project that led to the closure of 25 brothels and crack houses and visibly reduced prostitution in two residential areas of Northampton has won the national Tilley Award 2010.
Operation Uncanny beat ten regional finalists to take first place after introducing a number of innovative measures to tackle the problem. This included local agencies working with the police and the community to provide advice and support to encourage women to leave prostitution, which led to the dramatic decline in the number of sex workers in the Spring Boroughs and Semilong residential areas of Northampton.<br><br>Second place went to The Hyndburn Snooker Youth Club in Lancashire, which saw a reduction in crime and disorder by providing free snooker and other activities to young people. Talking the Hardest, a project tackling gang related anti social behaviour in Peckham town centre, was awarded third place. All ten finalists were recognised for their partnership work in finding solutions to problems affecting their local community at a ceremony in the House of Commons.<br><br>Minister for Crime Prevention James Brokenshire, said: "By working together to find local solutions to local problems these projects are excellent examples of communities taking ownership and making a real difference to their local area.<br><br>"I want to congratulate all the winners on their achievements and encourage them to share their knowledge so that more local communities can adopt problem solving approaches like these."<br><br>The Tilley Awards were set up 12 years ago to recognise crime fighting projects where police and local community safety agencies are working together to identify and tackle local crime problems. This year’s awards saw more than 110 entries.<br><br>The Tilley Award is named after Professor Nick Tilley, who has carried out work in the UK, often commissioned by the Home Office, to develop problem-oriented approaches to crime reduction. The awards are funded by the Home Office to encourage and spread best practice in crime fighting approaches across England and Wales.<br><br>Summary of the finalists:
North West – Hyndburn snooker youth club
The Hyndburn snooker youth club was set up in September 2008 after residents in the Church ward of Hyndburn, Lancashire raised concerns about alcohol-related antisocial behaviour and criminal damage. Working with the community, authorities set up a free snooker club which was run by paid staff and volunteers from the area.
Antisocial behaviour fell by 13 per cent and criminal damage fell by 27 per cent in Church ward in 2009 when compared with 2008. Police also reported a 30 per cent fall in the number of young people arrested in the area who were considered to be under the influence of drink or drugs during 2008-09 when compared with the previous 12 months.
East Midlands – Operation uncanny
Setting up a ‘toleration area’ where sex workers were not arrested for solicitation was one of a raft of innovative measures established to tackle prostitution in the Spring Boroughs and Semilong residential areas of Northampton as part of Operation uncanny. The Priority action zone (PAZ) was part of a three-pronged approach which saw the number of sex workers working in those areas fall from 200 to zero.
Sex Workers Around Northampton (SWAN) partnership met sex workers in the PAZ and gave advice and support on health, housing, drug addiction and education to help the women exit prostitution. Police monitored the area to identify and arrest customers. Authorities worked with the public to ensure they understood why the zone was set up. In Spring Boroughs and Semilong, 25 properties that were used as brothels and crack houses were closed down.
East of England – Wells harbour outboard engine theft project
Following a spate of boat engine thefts in the area the project designed a flexible plastic engine cover that could be locked to the boat and once in place would prevent the engine being started. If forcibly removed the cover would damage the engine.
Around £53,000 worth of engines were stolen from 2006 to 2008. In the 12 months leading up to September 2009, after the project had been set up, the total value of stolen engines fell to £6,252; this related to just one incident where six engines were stolen.
London – talking the hardest: Taking on Peckham’s gang culture
Talking the hardest: Taking on Peckham’s gang culture was a multi-faceted project that tackled gang-related antisocial behaviour following a rise in incidents around Peckham Town Centre. The project used the police, council and local schools to gather evidence against a small group of individuals identified as the most influential and active gang members in the area.
ASBOs were obtained the group and rigidly enforced with any breaches prosecuted. Other gang members were targeted with enforcement where appropriate, and support such as parenting orders for those on the fringes of the gang culture to prevent them getting involved. Other measures included offering temporary accommodation to witnesses to prevent intimidation and signposting young people to out of school activities. After the project, the area saw a drop in recorded crime and confidence among both business owners and young people rose.
South East – Operation guardian
Operation Guardian in Woking, West Surrey was set up tackle the supply of class A drugs. It arose after increasing levels of concern among residents about drugs users and dealers in the area. Police started the operation with raids, test purchases and stop and searches. the project team had early conversations with:
* courts and prisons so they were prepared for the influx of offenders
* drug treatment teams to ensure displaced drug users had access to treatment services
* housing authorities so they could assist with applying for warrants and enforce the removal of homes from those involved.
Following the project the number of residents concerned that drug users and dealers were a fairly or very big problem showed a reduction from 21 per cent to 12 per cent.
West Midlands – Distraction burglary in Warwickshire
The distraction burglary project in Warwickshire is a partnership involving home helps, district nurses, pension advisors, community groups, hospital, local authority and the housing corporation. It was formed to raise awareness among over 65s, the most vulnerable group, after a rise in distraction burglary incidents to a total of 143 in 2007.
The project distributed personal safety packs to more than 12,000 people. Latest figures for 2009 show a drop in recorded distraction burglary offences to 82 and preliminary figures for 2010 indicate that the trend will continue.
Wales – Duffryn road flats and Blaencareau ball park: Tackling ASB
This project in Caerau, South Wales followed a rise in antisocial behaviour (ASB) around a particular block of flats. It involved police, local authorities and several voluntary agencies in a major regeneration of the area. the project provided diversionary activities for local youths by cleaning up a local ball park and setting up organised activities.
Following the regeneration work both ASB and crime fell. In 2007-08 ASB peaked at 25 incidents a month in 2009-10 the peak was 15 while recorded crime peaks dropped from 10 to six in the same period. Residents’ concerns over ASB also fell.
Yorkshire and the Humber – Operation alamein
Operation alamein was established following concerns over a rise in antisocial behaviour in Edlington and Warmsworth in Doncaster. Using the Home Office’s effective practice database the project identified a number of methods that could be tailored to the local area to tackle the problem.
The project used several methods, including
* establishing a truancy watch
* dispersal orders
* forcing offenders to clean up graffiti
* an intranet site to pool intelligence and identify prolific offenders
Nuisance incidents involving young people fell from 214 in April – December 2008 to 166 in April – December 2009.
Rest of UK – Hamilton safer streets initiative
Hamilton safer streets initiative in Scotland was developed in response to alcohol related violence and disorder during the Christmas period in Hamilton town centre. Authorities established partnerships with local businesses and introduced measures such as high profile policing, taxi marshals and better lighting to deter criminal behaviour.
The project began in December 2006 and recorded crime incidents have fallen by 86 per cent, from 147 in 2005 to 20 in 2009. This includes serious and simple assaults which fell by 83 per cent and 87 per cent respectively over the same period.
North East – Persistent caller Mrs H
A project in Stockton, Cleveland targeting a persistent caller, Mrs H, who tied up police, ambulance, hospital and GP services with hundreds of calls over several years. Mrs H was taking advantage of a lack of information sharing between the agencies. The agencies agreed an information sharing protocol. Mrs H was served with an ASBO after failing to stick to the terms of an acceptable behaviour contract.
After the ASBO was imposed calls to police fell from 461 during January 2004 to August 2008 to two during October 2008 to February 2009. The local A&E department has seen a reduction of visits from 92 attendances (Jan 2007-31 Dec 2009) to 4 (Oct 2008-March 2009). There were 23 appearances during the same period the previous year.
Stand-alone category – Safer capital Cardiff
The Safer capital Cardiff (SCC) partnership is the winner in a new category where entrants had to show they have integrated partnership and problem solving approaches into their work. SCC was nominated for its transforming neighbourhoods model which saw six multi-agency teams set up to cover the same areas as the town’s safer neighbourhood police teams.
The teams have regular meetings with police and community safety groups and their own dedicated budget allowing them to respond quickly to any problems with antisocial behaviour or low level crime.
