'Kids have no respect for street team' say traders

Traders in Rotherham say anti-social behaviour involving teenage gangs is still a big problem, despite attempts by the council to tackle the issue.

In November, Rotherham Council launched the £570,000 "Street Safe" team of 10 officers, with patrols across Rotherham, Wath, Swinton, Dinnington and Maltby.

The authority say the team is acting as a "highly visible presence" in town centres, targeting hotspot areas and gathering intelligence to support police and partners.

However, Nigel Tatton, who manages the Dinnington outdoor market, said: "The kids have no respect for the police, so certainly not these officers. Their hands are tied. They've got no power."

When the initiative launched the council said the team had the power to enforce public space protection orders to tackle anti-social behaviour, such as street drinking, substance misuse and nuisance parking.

Market manager Tatton described the presence of "street scene officers" in Dinnington as "absolute nonsense".

"They're not proper PC's. They can't do anything there's no point," he said.

"They think the kids are going to be frightened of them, but they're not."

He said he had seen groups of "feral" teenagers riding their bikes on the roof of the outdoor market and "ripping off" panels.

Tania Dye works at the Roadhouse Bar in Dinnington. She said since the measures were introduced in November things had got "worse".

"There's motor bikes and quad bikes all over. They shout abuse and throw rocks and litter," she said.

Dye who grew up in the area, said although she does not find the gangs "intimidating", other staff and parents do.

"I know their parents so I'm Ok, but they are making the area scruffy," she said.

Despite the reservations from some traders the council said the Street Team have issued 12 warnings, nine fixed penalty notices, and opened 17 environmental enforcement cases.

They have also dealt with incidents leading directly to arrests, referred vulnerable adults for support and provided emergency first aid, a spokesperson said.

Officers currently patrol from 08:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and between 10:00 and 18:00 at weekends, with plans to expand their powers to include parking enforcement.

The council's service director for community safety and street scene, Sam Barstow, said: "We are aware of concerns about anti-social behaviour in some areas, and the council chose to invest in the Street Safe team to help to make our principal town centres more attractive places to shoppers and visitors.

"Since starting in November they have been out daily, helping to provide a visible and reassuring presence."

In Swinton, Jane Betts, who works at Cake Station board game cafe in the central precinct, said she had noticed the "increased presence" of officers.

"It is nice to see some proactive things going on because it has got quite difficult on this precinct with gangs of teenagers causing problems," she said.

"We open later into the evening, so once they see just one business with the lights on in the precinct, they're targeting the front of our shop, riding bikes at people and banging on the shutters.

"It's quite menacing really when it's late at night and we've had customers that have said can I go out of the back door rather than the front because they don't want to have to go near these kids that are causing trouble."

Betts felt on the whole the officers were, however, "a good deterrent".

She said: "They're not always here to literally catch them in the act, but the fact that they're here means that they're not coming around as often and so it feels a lot safer."

A council spokesperson said: "Keeping our communities safe depends on close partnership working with South Yorkshire Police, alongside parents, residents and businesses playing their part.

"With continued investment, and as the teams become a more established part of our towns, we will keep building on the progress made so far to create a safer Rotherham that residents expect and deserve."

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