29 May 2012 Last updated at 02:04 ET

Merthyr Tydfil crime project reduces victim numbers

The number of people reporting anti-social behaviour has fallen from 62 to 21 a month in Merthyr Tydfil

Anti-social behaviour calls to police dropped from 265 to 87 over four months in a trial which focused on victims and their complaints in more detail.

The pilot project in Merthyr Tydfil followed up callers who phoned police at least three times in three months.

South Wales Police say these callers were dealt with personally, with extra outside help offered to those vulnerable residents who needed it.

Housing associations and health service professionals have been involved.

The police found calls fell between last October and January because of the scheme.

The number of people repeatedly calling to report anti-social behaviour cases also fell from 62 to 21 a month in the same period.

One expert said the project was an "effective response that meets the needs of victims".

An analysis of the callers phoning police on 101 to report incidents in the area found that there was a significant number of repeat callers phoning more than three times in three months.

CASE 1 STUDY: VICTIM REHOUSED

A man with mental health problems and already well known to South Wales Police for regularly attending the front desk came to the attention of the ASB department as a repeat caller phoning 10 times in a three month period.

First case warnings of harassment were issued to the perpetrators. And, due to the man's vulnerability and the "targeted nature" of the ASB, his housing association was contacted and asked to make contact with the perpetrators, who were also tenants, to warn them their behaviour could have an impact on their tenancy.

There have been no further complaints.

However, to ensure a long term solution, the ASB department addressed the underlying cause of the man's victimisation due to a previously undiagnosed mental health issue.

A multi agency meeting was called and the man started to receive health advice and treatment.

The ASB department also helped to get him moved to a "more suitable" address giving him a "fresh start".

Source: South Wales Police

Officers have involved other agencies such as housing associations and health service professionals to get care, social and welfare help after the initiative helped identify vulnerable people who needed extra support.

They have also followed up callers' concerns and tackled issues in the community such as problems caused by neighbours, liaising with tenants' landlords and threatening them with action for further problems.

Martin Innes, professor of police science at Cardiff University, highlighted the project as an example of using limited police resources in new ways.

It comes after Ian Arundale, retiring chief constable of Dyfed-Powys Police, told how cuts in police budgets could mean police miss crime such as anti-social behaviour.

'Worked hard'

Prof Innes, who has been monitoring the effectiveness of the project in Merthyr Tydfil, said: "Rather than just focusing on suspects, if the police and other agencies started to look at victims and try and deal with the problems that victims brought to them, then actually you can have a far more effective response that meets the needs of victims.

"In Merthyr Tydfil where they have been trying to reorient their service provision towards victims what we have seen is they have been able to reduce the number of repeat victims of anti-social behaviour by about a half over a period of a year.

CASE STUDY 2: NUISANCE CALLER

One "habitual complainer" called police to report "boy racers" 29 times in a three-month period from June 2011.

The ASB department drew up an action plan, cross referencing the complaints with CCTV footage which did not show evidence of the alleged incidents.

The man was given an incident log to fill in but failed to complete it and continued to call police, often when intoxicated.

No neighbours corroborated his reports. But there were complaints regarding his manner.

Different agencies looked at a course of action. The man attended a subsequent meeting and was told that many incidents he reported were not illegal and did not cause problems for others.

He was informed he was wasting police time. Since that meeting his calls have decreased considerably, say police.

Source: South Wales Police

"They have reduced the number of calls received by those victims by well over a half," he said.

Insp Claire Hallett who works in Merthyr said colleagues had worked extremely hard over the past year to "tailor police responses appropriately".

"This has ensured that members of our communities get the help they need as individuals, be it from the police or another partner agency," she said.

"Our processes ensure that we clearly differentiate between those callers that are vulnerable repeat victims of crime, and those who clearly aren't victims but may be vulnerable and require the help of other agencies.

"We have also been able to identify the nuisance callers and take robust action.

"Collectively, this has all considerably reduced the demand on our front-line which in turn reduces demand on other agencies, so we have a win-win situation."

Calls to South Wales Police about anti social behaviour from repeat callers
Date	Number of callers phoning at least three times in three months	Total number of their calls
14 October 2011	62	265
28 October 2011	58	248
4 November 2011	53	234
24 November 2011	48	209
2 December 2011	46	197
22 December 2011	39	167
4 January 2012	32	133
23 January 2012	21	87
		Source: South Wales Police in Merthyr Tydfil