With the start of a new year, we want local people in Birmingham to know we’re committed as ever to addressing problems and crime affecting our communities.

We’ve been listening to concerns shared by local people about Soho Road and acting on these.

An operation was set up by the Lozells and East Handsworth Neighbourhood Team. It comes after people living and working in the area let us know about issues around begging, homelessness, street drinkers, poor parking, shoplifting, littering, drug dealing and anti-social behaviour.

The aim of the operation is for us to work together with partner agencies and people to create a safer area via prevention work, education, referrals and using enforcement where required.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNjz2JbokaM&feature=youtu.be

Here’s the many agencies we’ve been working alongside to improve the area:

· Council ASB officers, parking enforcement officers, the council’s ‘Love My Street’ team, rubbish cleaning teams and the council CCTV control room
· Representatives from local schools, colleges and charities
· Bus revenue inspectors and Safer Travel officers
· The Soho Road Business Improvement District (BID)
· Trident Outreach homeless services
· St Basils youth hub
· Sex Workers Outreach Teams
· Nishkam Temple Security Team
· Volunteers
· Community Street Watch groups

We’re monitoring the ongoing progress being made and recording results and persons of note on a briefing, which our police officers review before going out on patrol, ensuring they know the people who are causing the most harm and risk to the community we serve.

But we know these are ongoing issues that can’t be solved by just making arrests.

Sergeant Greg Lampitt, from the Lozells and East Handsworth Neighbourhood Police Team, said: “We know the issues on Soho Road and the surrounding area aren’t new, these are ongoing and we are listening to and working with the community on ways to improve this.

“This is very much a joined-up approach, we have a meeting once a month with all partner agencies to discuss the ongoing progress of the operation. This is also where plans, ideas, suggestions and objectives are discussed, in order to move together in the right direction.

“We also have ‘All Out Days’ a minimum of four times a month, whereby staff from each agency go out on foot patrol together on the Soho Road and adjoining junctions. These staff use their own knowledge and skills to deal with situations they come across, but also to support, offer guidance, and help each other on patrol, to provide the community the service it requires.”

Local officers have also provided training inputs to partner agencies around information and intelligence gathering, county lines, under 25 violence, de-escalation techniques, and vulnerable people.

On top of this, we have hi-visibility patrols, plain clothes patrols, push bike patrols, unmarked and marked vehicles patrols.

If you have concerns you want to raise, you can email your local neighbourhood police team. Just enter your postcode in the ‘Find your local police’ section on our website https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/

You can also get live updates from your local police team when you sign up to WMNow https://www.wmnow.co.uk/