Good evening Resident,

The Bolton Town Centre Team from the South Neighbourhood have been actively patrolling the town centre 7 days a week to tackle the priority issues you have raised to us, including anti-social behaviour, retail crime, begging, and drug use. People from all across the district, and often further afield visit the town centre to use the amenities and transport links. We have been working closely with our partner agencies to identify and deal with those engaging in criminality, and offer support to those who need it. 

As a result of my teams work in the last 3 months, we have; 

🚔 Arrested 76 people for a variety of offences. We have charged 78% of these, with a further 18% still under investigation. 

🚨 Stop and searched 67 people, finding knives, drugs and stolen property.

✖️ Served 11 youth exclusion orders, prohibiting repeat ASB offenders from entering any partnership premises.

🏫 Visited a number of schools and local community events to speak to the community about issues and provide education around safety and how to avoid being a victim of crime.

❗ Obtained 2 Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) for prolific beggars, with a further 5 being prepared for those who continue to cause alarm and distress to the public despite being offered support from Bolton Council and other charities. This order prohibits them from being in a position to beg, and provides additional powers to council workers, along with any breaches being an arrestable offence. 

✉️ Submitted over 20 referrals to the ASB pathway.

❗ Obtained 8 Criminal Behaviour Orders for prolific shoplifters, bringing the total number of active CBOs for the Town Centre Team to 17. We have numerous more submitted for the courts to review in the near future. These orders prohibit repeat offenders from entering various retail premises within Bolton Town Centre, giving more powers to retailers to deal with theft offences, and making simply entering a prohibited shop an arrestable offence, prior to any theft taking place. 

My team are dedicated to bringing offenders to justice and ensuring a good service to our community. We are hosting monthly drop-in sessions that are advertised via our social media pages and Bee In The Loop. We aim to hold these on a variety of days and times to suit, so please keep an eye out for upcoming events - our next will be on an evening in mid-April. You can pop down and speak to us about your concerns, provide us with intelligence, or just catch up on the work we have ongoing in the area. 

If you have any suggestions as to issues you believe should be a priority to my team, please let me know by replying to this message.