New Youth Scheme Tackles Wyre Forest Anti Social Behaviour

CSO Vanessa Halford during the clear-up at Brinton with Wyre Forest District Council grounds maintenance operative James Millington. The youths taking part in the scheme are seen working in the background. A groundbreaking youth community work scheme has been launched by police in Wyre Forest with the aim of preventing youngsters from re-offending after they have been caught committing anti-social behaviour.

The scheme has been introduced to coincide with Not In My Neighbourhood Week, a Home Office campaign highlighting the positive work being carried out by police and their partners to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour at a local level.

It works by giving youngsters the opportunity to pay back the community for any damage they have caused through work and at the same time teaches them about the wider impact of their actions in order to instil them with a greater sense of social responsibility.

Four Wyre Forest youths aged between 14 and 16 who were caught pulling up plants from a town centre display are the first to take part in the scheme. None were charged or cautioned in relation to that but Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) letters were sent to their parents advising them of what they had done and asking them to monitor their children's behaviour.

The youths were then invited to visit Brinton Park to learn from Wyre Forest District Council landscape staff about how plants are grown in the greenhouses there and the work that goes into organising displays around the district. They were also set to work litter picking and clearing leaves from parts of the park such as the tennis courts and skateboard area.

"This is not a soft option or an alternative to other forms of punishment. The decision had already been taken not to prosecute them. What this is about is early intervention to prevent re-offending."

CSO Vanessa Halford - Wyre Forest Youth Inclusion Officer

Their parents were asked to give permission for the youngsters to take part and all agreed.

The scheme has been put together by the Youth Inclusion Officer for Wyre Forest, Community Support Officer Vanessa Halford.

She said: "This is not a soft option or an alternative to other forms of punishment. The decision had already been taken not to prosecute them. What this is about is early intervention to prevent re-offending.

"With parental permissions in place we have invited the youngsters to take part in an educational scheme so that they can understand how much work went into putting the displays into the town centre in the first place. It's also showing people that the youths are prepared to put something back into the community when they have done something wrong."

She said that the scheme would only involve youngsters whose parents had been issued with ASB letters and where a decision had already been made not to prosecute or give a caution. Any work detailed to the youngsters would be proportionate to their misbehaviour.

CSO Halford said the initiative at Brinton Park had the support of Wyre Forest District Council and town centre manager Jackie Roberts. Other organisations were being approached to get involved in the scheme.

Wyre Forest District Council's Cabinet Member for Community and Partnership Services, Councillor Marcus Hart added: "This is an excellent scheme. I'm very pleased that we have been able to support the work of the police and show these young people just how hard our Parks team works to make the Wyre Forest district an attractive place to live and visit. I hope this will help to prevent them from committing further acts of anti-social behaviour in the future."

A 15-year-old youth who took part in the work at the park said: "The scheme is a good idea and teaches you to appreciate what you have around you. We would think before doing anything like this again in future."

A 14-year-old also on the scheme added: "I feel we are paying back to the community for what we did."