Rise in antisocial behaviour in Northumberland during covid pandemic

Officers say people working from home and spending more time in the house has seen normally 'minor issues' become sources of friction and complaint

In the past three years, the number of ASB complaints received by the county council varied between 811 and 916.

However, for the first seven months of 2020-21 alone, there were 717 complaints, a trend which would suggest a total of around 1,200 for the full year.

The authority’s head of public protection, Phil Soderquest, told the Wednesday, February 3, meeting of the communities and place committee that coronavirus certainly played a role in that projected increase.

“There are a number of reasons for that, but one of them is undoubtedly linked to restrictions around Covid, national lockdowns and the impacts seen on some of our communities and residents,” he said. “Northumberland is not unique in this.”

He explained that there had been more cases linked to the likes of household noise and nuisance as people are spending far more time at home and therefore what they will put up with has changed.

“What we are definitely seeing is a reduction in tolerance levels and an escalation in minor complaints,” Mr Soderquest told councillors.

“The other thing we have seen – not significantly but it has been reported in policing circles – is escalation, so potentially minor issues of noise and nuisance are resulting in physical abuse between neighbours.”

The figures show that the number of complaints for rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour, for example, totalled 260 between April and October 2020, already a higher figure than for the three previous full financial years.

Mr Soderquest said Covid ‘has undoubtedly impacted on service delivery in the last 12 months’, but he highlighted that during the first two quarters of the year, the targets for complaints being responded to within three working days and being resolved within three months were both met comfortably.

“While we had some challenges in delivering that service, we have still provided that service for the residents of Northumberland,” he added.

The report to councillors summarised: ‘The Covid outbreak and the restrictions put in place to address it have had a significant effect on both the workload of the CST (community safety team) and its activities.

‘For example, the usual seasonal rise in reported youth disorder has not occurred this year. However, neighbour disputes rose in the spring and early summer. It is thought this was as a result of more residents spending longer periods of time at home, especially during the day.

‘The team continued to visit residents in high-risk cases only and did so in Covid-secure ways such as in private gardens, however, during this period many complaints were resolved through telephone discussion and mediation, which prevented a more general escalation of community tension.

‘Site visits also continued where officers were not meeting residents, including CCTV deployments and downloads where these could be achieved with no contact.’

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