Immediate Justice
Back in March 2023, Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold was successful in lobbying for Northamptonshire to be one of 16 areas in England and Wales to be chosen to participate in a new crackdown on anti-social behaviour.
The Home Office announced that Northamptonshire was one of just a few areas in England and Wales that would receive funding to trial a new ‘Immediate Justice’ scheme to deliver swift and visible punishments to those who commit anti-social behaviour.
I'm excited that Northamptonshire will be a pilot area to receive funding to crack down on anti-social behaviour.
I lobbied hard to bring the scheme to Northamptonshire. Anti-social behaviour has such a negative impact on neighbourhoods. It's such a visible, personal crime that can have the effect of making people feel unsafe in their own home and ruining their confidence in the place that they live, and that's what I want to tackle. I want to see a robust approach that builds on the problem solving work that Northamptonshire Police are already doing in our communities. We will bring that prevention enforcement work together with restorative justice, making sure that people who commit anti-social behaviour are quickly held to account and made to put right the harm and damage that they caused in the most appropriate way.
Further details will be available in Northamptonshire shortly.
The new Immediate Justice scheme is now live in Northamptonshire, which means those found committing anti-social behaviour can be made to repair the damage they inflicted on victims and communities.
This could see them being made to pick up litter, remove graffiti or carry out other work to make environmental improvements in anti-social hotspots.
The scheme has an ambition for offenders to start work within 48 hours of a police decision, demonstrating that anti-social behaviour is treated seriously.
Antisocial behaviour is defined as 'behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person' (Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014).
There are three main categories for antisocial behaviour, depending on how many people are affected:
- Personal antisocial behaviour is when a person targets a specific individual or group.
- Nuisance antisocial behaviour is when a person causes trouble, annoyance or suffering to a community.
- Environmental antisocial behaviour is when a person’s actions affect the wider environment, such as public spaces or buildings.
Examples can include rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour, vehicle nuisance, littering or drug paraphernalia, trespassing, street drinking, activity relating to sex workers, or nuisance noise.
Immediate Justice gives victims and communities a say in how perpetrators of anti-social behaviour can repair the harm and damage that they’ve caused.
We are keen to find out which reparation activities the people of Northamptonshire want to see in the Immediate Justice scheme, and if there are any areas you feel anti-social behaviour is a persistent problem and could benefit from these reparation activities taking place in.
To get in touch with us, please email [email protected] and answer the below questions:
- What is the issue and where?
- What kinds of reparative activities would you like Northamptonshire Police to consider implementing? For example, litter picking, rubbish clearance or maintenance of community areas
Thank you in advance for taking the time to contact us with your views, and any issues or reparation ideas we receive will be fully considered by the Immediate Justice team.
Please do not use this email to report a crime or concern. You can report crimes and concerns online or via 101. In an emergency dial 999.