Anti-Social Behaviour Measures Introduced by Mayor of Belfast

Lord Mayor, Naomi Long will today launch a city-wide warden scheme to help combat anti-social behaviour in Belfast.

The initiative will see 25 wardens recruited to provide communities with a visible presence to help "reduce crime and fear of crime" and follows Belfast City Council's two pilot schemes which ended in June.
Those recruited for the new posts will be extensively trained, before taking up their roles next month.

The council has provided £850,000 towards the project which it is operating in partnership with the PSNI, the NIO, Housing Executive, Belfast Regeneration Office, Queen's University, University of Ulster, St Mary's College Belfast and Belfast Metropolitan College. The new wardens will spend up to three months in one area before moving on to antoher. However, where and in what numbers they are deployed will be based on feedback from the PSNI and other partners, as well as local communities. Wardens were initially used in a bid to reduce tensions between students and residents in south Belfast's Holylands area which was followed by a second pilot scheme that took in other areas of the city.

Lord Mayor Naomi Long said the Holyland initiative and a roaming wardens scheme had been "extremely successful and were a massive benefit for communities across Belfast". She went on to say "Following an evaluation of both these schemes, it was decided that along with our partners, we would roll out our resources in such a way that the entire city can now benefit from the service and each corner of Belfast can be covered as a result. The city-wide wardens scheme will provide an important reassurance for communities that issues around anti-social behaviour are being taken seriously and our wardens will work in partnership with the PSNI and other partners to help reduce crime and fear of crime, and create a safer Belfast for all."