Antisocial behaviour in South Bournemouth has increased by almost a quarter this year.
Information from Dorset Police has revealed these statistics for the eight month period between January and August.
Whilst South Bournemouth has seen the biggest growth, the combined figures across all of Bournemouth have risen by 1.5% over the past year.
From January to August 2024, 3570 incidents of antisocial behaviour have been reported to Dorset Police.
The summer months of July and August see the largest figures out of the whole year, a trend that is not just exclusive to 2024.
Examples of the most common forms of antisocial behaviour in Bournemouth include street-drinking, littering, begging, vehicle nuisance and rowdy behaviour.
Bournemouth residents such as Glyn Dickinson have expressed their individual concerns over the alarming rise in antisocial behaviour.
“The last 10 years have been dreadful. The town centre has been allowed to go to rack and ruin,” Dickinson said.
“The increase in murders, stabbings, rape, assaults, blatant drug dealing and ASB has grown exponentially. People are afraid to go down there in the day now, not just the nights.”
Another local, Josh Wickens, also stated that he “does not really feel safe down there”.
Charlotte Hamilton Kay, the Deputy CEO of national charity ASB help, emphasised that more needs to be done to tackle the rising rates of ASB.
“We welcome all the work being done nationally to combat ASB, however we do feel there is a long way to go. The previous governments action plan, and the new governments manifesto pledges to keep ASB in the spotlight and review tools to combat it are excellent.
“ASB should be a national priority, it is often a symptom of more serious crime. Too often it is dismissed as low level or trivial, and practitioners feel it is a waste of their already stretched resources. Perspectives need to change, ASB ruins lives and more needs to be done to make that clear.”
Dorset Police and BCP Council have been approached for a comment but have not yet responded on the matter.
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