Neighbours justice plan is hailed by police chief

POLICE yesterday claimed a new system which sees local volunteers step in to tackle low level crime in their streets has been a success, after 50 incidents were dealt with in the first six months.

The Neighbourhood Resolutions scheme is supported by the Home Office and has been piloted in Barnsley since last May, with the support of South Yorkshire Police and Barnsley Council.

Senior officers have denied the idea is a way of shifting their responsibilities onto volunteers and said people had been recruited who were willing to take action against anti-social behaviour.

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Scheme coordinator PC Julie Oxley said: ”Since the launch we have seen a dramatic reduction in repeat calls following work with people who have reported neighbour disputes and antisocial behaviour.”

“We currently have a team of 32 trained facilitators living across Barnsley, who all come from diverse backgrounds.

“Our facilitators are all community focused and they have a vested interest in seeing the communities where they live improve.

“Neighbourhood Resolutions is a new opportunity for the community to resolve difficulties with people they know, which affects the quality of each individual’s life.”

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PC Oxley said facilitators had been trained in so-cllaed restorative justice by Sheffield-based charity Remedi, which teaches them how to reason with people who are responsible for nuisance behaviour.

South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright said he supported the scheme, encouraged people to sign up, and added: “Antisocial behaviour is a modern-day blight that so easily affects innocent people’s lives.

“The particularly disturbing aspect is that it is generally localised, and people shouldn’t have to suffer this type of behaviour in and around their home and community where they otherwise expect to be safe.”