Police are ‘committed’ to keeping Bognor safe after anti-social behaviour, chief inspector says

A Police chief inspector has reassured Bognor business owners that Sussex Police is committed to keeping Bognor safe.

The message was sent after chief inspector Jon Carter offered to take part in a webinar with the Bognor Regis BID following a spate of anti-social behaviour carried out by young people in the town.

The BID, however, did not have the resources to host a live Q&A session and so the chief inspector sent a detailed message to the BID which he asked to be shared with Bognor’s business community.

“I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to keeping Bognor safe,” he said.

Chief inspector Carter went on to acknowledge the difficulties of running a business in the pandemic and made clear that “the last thing they need is a group of youths acting in a way discourages people from coming into the town now that the shops can open.”

He said police are “actively targeting” the trouble-making youths and that he has assigned a sergeant and a number of officers to oversee the issue full-time. Police efforts, he said, have targeted a core group of six individuals and officers are actively seeking criminal justice outcomes wherever evidence permits their doing so.

The Police are planning to pursue injunctions under The Antisocial Crime and Behaviour Act, 2014. If they are successful in targeting the core group, chief inspector Carter said there is evidence to suggest that other, peripheral groups will also desist.

“Sadly, as we are talking about children, I cannot be as public without activity as I’d like to be,” chief inspector Carter said.

The BID has urged residents and business owners to continue to report incidents of anti-social behaviour to the police via 101, 999 or the DISC service for BRCP members.

It has also invited members with specific questions to put to chief inspector Carter to email them to [email protected] by Friday May 14.

For chief Inspector Carter’s full statement and more information, click here.