Good news from Kent Police as their dedicated efforts to tackle antisocial behaviour are paying off, with the latest figures revealing a significant drop in reported incidents.
Kent Police has been at the forefront of enhancing and expanding neighbourhood policing in recent years, ensuring greater visibility within communities including the introduction of named beat officers in every council ward.
The latest available figures for antisocial behaviour demonstrate the approach is having a positive impact, with 1,214 fewer incidents reported (a 4% drop) during the year to April 2025 compared to the previous 12 months.
Reductions were seen in the majority of policing districts including 20% in Tunbridge Wells (312 fewer reports) 19% in Gravesham (403), 18% in Tonbridge and Malling (289), 13% in Canterbury (336) and 12% in Ashford (215).
Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Brookes, head of neighbourhood policing, said:
‘Being visible is the bedrock of our service to the public and very much at the heart of our policing pledge to support and protect victims, catch criminals and solve crime.
‘It is encouraging to see that our focus on tackling antisocial behaviour is resulting in fewer reports across the county because we are well aware of how the selfish and irresponsible actions of a minority of people can have such a severe impact on everyone else.
‘The battle is far from over though and we will not be complacent. Our officers will continue to patrol antisocial hotspots every day to clamp down on street drinkers, break up illegal car meets, disperse groups of people causing a nuisance and take appropriate action against anyone else who may be behaving in an unacceptable manner.’
Within Kent Police’s new neighbourhood policing model are prevention hubs with officers dedicated to working with all licenced premises, and Community Safety Units that support and promote community alcohol partnerships. The new model has also resulted in the creation of beat officers, child centred policing teams and neighbourhood task forces responsible for identifying trends and providing a visible and accessible presence for all members of the public.
The majority of reports of antisocial behaviour made to Kent Police relate to rowdy or nuisance gatherings in public, with 8,456 in the 12 months up to and including April 2025 followed by drunken or rowdy behaviour with 5,915 reports. Such incidents are common in high footfall areas such as town centres, which is why local officers carry out regular enforcement operations and make use of powers such as dispersal orders that allow them to instruct people to leave a specific area if concerns have been raised about nuisance behaviour.
The total number of calls relating to antisocial behaviour in the year up to and including April 2025 was 27,250, down from 28,464 during the previous 12 months.
ACC Brookes said:
‘Whilst the number of calls relating to antisocial behaviour may sound like a high number, it is important to point out that the actual number of incidents is lower as the figures include single incidents that have been reported by multiple people in the same area.
‘There are many factors that can influence the prevalence of certain types of crime and antisocial behaviour in a particular area including population size, the level of social deprivation and the number of visitors to town or city centre locations.
‘However one thing that does not change from town to town is Kent Police’s commitment to providing a visible police presence and tackling the issues that matter most to the people we serve.
‘Kent Police currently has more than 4,000 officers, the most in our history, and thanks to additional funding recently announced by the Government we are now able to add 65 officers to our neighbourhood task forces dedicated to crime prevention, detection, problem solving and enforcement, which will ultimately help to keep people safe.’
Here’s to a quieter and more peaceful Kent!