Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council is placing community safety at the forefront of its work to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB), with the launch of a new patrol team.
The Safer Neighbourhood Team will be carrying out high-visibility patrols to support residents and businesses across the borough, building on the success of its award-winning ASB team through a new partnership with TMS Protection Ltd.
The four uniformed officers, working in pairs, will be patrolling towns and villages, engaging directly with the public and local businesses as well as liaising with parish councils.
Equipped with body-worn cameras their role will be to provide visible reassurance in communities and ASB hot-spots, to help deter and detect anti-social behaviour, report on emerging issues and concerns and enforce Public Space Protection Orders where necessary.
For the year 2025/26 (to the end of March) there were 1,859 ASB reports to the police. This is compared to 1,324 the year before while the borough Council received 368 reports of ASB, compared to 429 the previous year.
Noise nuisance, rowdy and dangerous car meets and the use of catapults in parks are just some of the incidents reported to TMBC.
Cabinet Member for Community Safety Des Keers welcomed the new team and said: “I’m delighted to have the Safer Neighbourhood Team. We know that anti-social behaviour is an issue in some parts of the borough and the launch of these patrols is an indication of our commitment to tackling it.
“We think having a visible presence and better community engagement works. But we can all play a part in improving community safety, so we’d encourage people who have experienced ASB to report it to the council.”
The Safer Neighbourhood Team will be on patrol in the borough until November. You can report ASB via the council website