Police have asked the people of Skipton to report any anti-social behaviour by young teenagers in the town.
Officials say that people should not post the incidents on social media but rather inform the police and they will take care of it.
The incident follows social media posts of young teenagers throwing things at people, including an incident in which a man in Skipton was nearly knocked off his motorbike when a “stone or brick” was thrown at him, hitting his helmet.
Sergeant Paul Evans, of the Craven Neighbourhood Policing Team, said officers were aware of several incidents of minor anti-social behaviour involving younger teenagers in and around Skipton in recent weeks.
He said: “As always, some of the information has come to our attention via social media rather than through actual reports to the police.”
“We understand that people often feel that the police are uninterested or unable to tackle such issues. However, the Craven Neighbourhood Policing Team is here to look at the emerging issues in Skipton and the rest of Craven and develop plans to address them, working with our partner agencies and other stakeholders such as local businesses, parish and town councils and residents.”
He said that the problem-solving approach to societal problems can be very effective when implemented correctly and has varying degrees of success.
However, for this to work, police must have citizens as their “eyes and ears” and report incidents affecting their communities.
“Could people please report any problems to us so that we can quickly identify emerging issues and, where possible, intervene early,” said Sergeant Evans.
“We are very lucky in Craven that the vast majority of young people are extremely well behaved and stay out of trouble. However, a small number spoil the rest.
“We always try to deter young people from crime and work closely with support agencies such as North Yorkshire Council and schools. To be effective this needs to happen at an early stage and we have found it works well.”
He added: “Following a phased approach, all young people will be spoken to in front of their parents or guardians where appropriate at the first sign of behaviour that could lead them astray. Hopefully this will be enough to prevent their behaviour escalating further. If not, we will step up our approach and ultimately use our powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 if necessary.”
Sergeant Evans also urged parents to always know where their children are and what they are doing, especially during the summer holidays.
Incidents of mild antisocial behaviour should be reported to the police either online at https://orlo.uk/9Zc1x or by calling North Yorkshire Police on 101.
