Update on aggressive street drinkers and nuisance beggars in Moseley

Last Wednesday, 20^th July, I met with the local Safer Communities Officer who is dealing with the issue of aggressive street drinkers and nuisance beggars in Moseley shopping centre. This is a report back from that meeting.

Birmingham Community Safety Partnership & West Midlands Police are working
jointly to tackle this issue. Since May there has been a noticeable increase in anti-social behaviour by street drinkers and beggars in Moseley shopping centre. This is due to a number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO) on street drinkers coming to an end since May.

The police are presently collecting evidence on 13 individuals in preparation for the issuing of ASBO’s on these individuals. At the end of June, all these individuals were handed letters informing them that evidence was now being collected in preparation for new ASBO’s. Also the police have provided each individual with details of services that they can access to help them come off their alcohol/drug addiction. The police will continue to provide them with this information, since any judge issuing an ASBO will want to see evidence that less draconian measures other than an ASBO have been investigated.

What the police need from the community is evidence of anti-social behaviour or harassment by these or other individuals.

The police are happy to collect statements from residents either from their homes or from pre-arranged meetings at Woodbridge Road police station.

Examples of anti-social behaviour that the police can take action against include:

• threats of violence,
• swearing or threatening language at members of the public,
• urinating or defecating in a public space
• intimidatory begging (ie demanding money and following you down the street still demanding money),
• implied threats (eg sitting next to the cash point and asking for money as you are withdrawing money),
• selling the Big Issue without permission (we have a number of individuals doing this. Any Big Issue seller needs an id badge and is given a pitch by the Big Issue organisation. The Big Issue organisation work towards helping the individual stabilise their lives. Non-authorised sellers by-pass this help and have been known to bully authorised Big Issue sellers )
• selling items without a street license (we have a problem with individuals selling liquid cigarette lighters without a street license and harassing members of the public)

If you have witnessed any of the above or other examples of anti-social behaviour by street drinkers or beggars in Moseley, please contact our Community Safer Partnership officers, Jonathan Antill or Oliver Humpidge to arrange a visit/appointment on 0121 303 3191 or via:
jonathan.antill@birmingham.gov.uk & oliver.humpidge@birmingham.gov.uk

Also, can I remind readers that my on-line survey on this issue is still active and can be accessed at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TC75LVV. It only takes two minutes to fill in. Honest!