Helping young people stay safe in the school holidays
Wirral Council and community safety partners will once again be collaborating on a series of operations that will take place on key dates this year to provide support to vulnerable young people and reassurance to local communities.
The ‘Staysafe’ operations aim to tackle anti-social behaviour and identify other potential risks for young people who gather in known hot-spots during times like school holidays and when exams end.
Supporting the council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team will be officers from Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Merseyrail, British Transport Police, the RNLI, St John Ambulance, local schools and the council’s detached youth teams and social care services.
This year, areas such as New Brighton, West Kirby, Liscard and Woodchurch have been identified as areas of focus, but this can change as intelligence and information is gathered on activities.
Last year in West Kirby alone, more than 500 young people were spoken to as part of the Staysafe operation. More than 60 young people were asked to leave an area, 29 referrals were made to the anti-social behaviour team for investigation and more than 121 notices for non-payment of train fares were issued.
Alcohol was seized from 20 young people, while six young people identified as vulnerable were taken to a place of safety. Three young people received formal warnings due to their behaviour and 19 received warning letters.
It is a fine balance for the authorities between allowing young people to celebrate the end of exams, or the end of term safely and minimising the potential impact on these gatherings on the wider community.
The feedback from previous Staysafe operations is that the presence and engagement of community safety partners provided reassurance to residents, businesses and visitors, while minimising the number of significant incidents of disorder or anti-social behaviour. I’m sure this year’s activities will prove equally as successful.
