154,004 anti-social behaviour incidents go unattended in Kent and Medway in just four years' - say Medway Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats have accused the Government of “losing control” as 154,004 incidents of anti-social behaviour in Kent and Medway go unattended by the police since the beginning of 2019.

In 2022 alone,16,117 incidents of anti-social behaviour in Kent and Medway went unattended by a police officer - accounting for 57% of all reports made.

The national figures paint a similarly dismal picture, with 63% of cases of anti-social behaviour in England and Wales going unattended. All figures were obtained by the Liberal Democrats through Freedom of Information requests to all police forces, to which 38 responded.

The shocking new data comes as the Conservative Government looks set to break its trademark promise to recruit 20,000 extra police officers. Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) numbers have also plummeted under the Conservative Party’s watch, with the number of active PCSOs falling by an average of 33% in England and Wales since 2015.

Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing - where officers are visible, trusted and able to focus on preventing and solving crimes.

Commenting on the figures, Medway Liberal Democrat Spokesperson, John Castle said: “It’s clear the Conservatives have lost control of anti-social behaviour in Kent and Medway - and their response just isn’t good enough.

Our communities deserve to feel safe walking down their own streets. People should be able to feel that if they fall victim to anti-social behaviour, it will be taken seriously and police will attend.

Our communities deserve to feel safe walking down their own streets. People should be able to feel that if they fall victim to anti-social behaviour, it will be taken seriously and police will attend.

Instead of more empty promises, it’s time for the Government to finally commit to proper community policing - where offices are visible, trusted, and able to tackle neighbourhood crime.”

Kent and Medway deserve better.

ENDS

This data was uncovered by an FOI to all 45 police forces in the UK. Their response provided the following data:
How many incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported to their force in the past four calendar years: 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.
How many of those reports led to a police officer visiting the scene of the incident.