As new borough commander, I’m committed to tackling anti-social behaviour, which is one of the crimes that can make daily life unbearable for residents.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a term we use to describe a variety of offences, which can range from nuisance behaviour such as youths regularly congregating in an area and being disruptive, to more serious offences like drug dealing or prostitution.

Tackling ASB issues is also a key part of the Commissioner’s vision of Total Policing, where we address your crime concerns and focus on the issues that concern you the most.

Anti-social behaviour can also include issues like noise pollution, litter and fly-tipping which are civil offences and are dealt with by the Newham Council Enforcement Teams, along with the Newham Police Enforcement Partnership Team.

We have had some fantastic success stories recently, including the closure of several crack houses and squats, and use a range of methods to prevent people re-offending, including the use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, Anti-social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and Gang Injunctions.

We can use Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) to combat certain offences, and when dealing with an ASB call always look at whether other offences have taken place, such as assault, criminal damage or harassment.

We’re doing really well at reducing anti-social behaviour; we have achieved an eight and a half per cent reduction on last year’s figures, which means 1,427 fewer calls.

I put this down to our dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Teams, who work in your wards and focus on community issues, combined with some exceptional and robust work from our Enforcement Partnership Team.

As the weather gets warmer, ASB calls traditionally increase, but the best way for us to tackle it is with your help and support.

We need intelligence from you to enable us to find out who is committing crime and disorder in your area, so we can stop them.

Intelligence passed to us will be dealt with as quickly as possible and carefully considered in partnership with external agencies (where appropriate) before any action is taken, and we will always keep you updated.

If you have any information about people who are causing antisocial behaviour in your community, please contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team, call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.