Anti-social behaviour is a big problem across the country and Leeds is no different. With a population of around 535,000, according to World population review, Leeds like any other major city suffers from crime.
There were 151 crimes per 1000 people in 2023, making it one of the most dangerous cities in England. From 2015/16 to 2022/23, Leeds and Bradford were the most dangerous cities in England. Why is this though?
Leeds’ population is amongst the highest in the country, and boasts two of the biggest universities in the country, Leeds Beckett and University of Leeds. These two universities attract over 60,000 students a year, boosting the economy and the culture of the city, with 12,000 of the students being international. This brings problems however.
In 2023, 35% of people witnessed anti-social behaviour with one million incidents being recorded by the police across England and Wales. In Leeds alone, there were 8047 investigations of anti-social behaviour from 2013/14 to 2017/18.
Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that causes distress to others and can range from street drinking to littering to being too loud and preventing others from doing their day to day activities.
‘Slightly nervous and sometimes scared’
Headingley resident Jess Green spoke about the behaviour that occurs in the area, “Quite often there’s lots of noise which makes it hard to do things such as work or especially sleeping because students can be really loud when they drink and going out,
“You want to go out and ask them to be quiet but when their drinking you don’t want to cause an argument or face a bad reaction if you do try and speak to them,
“I am slightly nervous and sometimes scared when walking past students who are drinking so it is difficult to deal with and there’s always the feeling that even if you speak to them and it goes well that they’re not going to do what you ask, whether that be how loud the music is or how loud they’re being themselves.”
Headingley itself had 105 crimes reported in March 2024 alone, with three of these being anti-social behaviour and violence and sexual offences having the most cases with 37. West Yorkshire Police commented saying, “Anti-social behaviour is a real problem and one we are well aware of and trying our best to cut down on,
“It’s really important that people report the behaviour whenever they see it and work with us to catch the people responsible.”
Burley park, located next to Headingley, is ranked the eight worst area in Leeds for anti-social behaviour, with 300 crimes in the area between September 2020 and August 2021, according the Yorkshire Evening post.
As previously discussed, Headingley has a huge student population, bringing lots of positives for local businesses, bars and pubs and bringing diversity to the area. The Otley run done every weekend brings lots of money across the city and Headingley area. Since COVID however, there has been an increase in the number of groups taking part has increased, causing problems.
Councillor Al Garthwaite has said ‘they create a trail of destruction.’ An article from the Guardian explains that the age range of participants has become older since COVID with groups of men aged 40-50 and above now regularly taking part.
Individuals are now warned that they could face a fine of up to £1000 if they are caught and charged with anti-social behaviour.
How to battle crime
One way to battle crime is to use community activities and sport to promote good habits with people. Sport and exercise has been an excellent way for people to get out of a life of crime. Many cases such as Anthony Joshua show that exercise helps get people out of a life of crime, especially amongst working-class people.
Ex-professional footballer Ian Wright was jailed before his football career took off. He has previously stated that ‘football saved my life.’
Community groups or group exercises such as the Hyde park park run, are great ways for people to exercise and meet new people, increasing social skills, teaching values and improving wellbeing.
One sport that many associate with discipline and hard work is boxing. Many see it as a great way of teaching younger people how to work hard, listen to others and improving discipline and giving a feeling of achievement. Mark Reynolds from Rawthorpe Boxing club says, “boxing has helped many people and is a great way to get fit, boost mental wellbeing and teach people life skills,
“What we do here isn’t about fighting but about teaching people to look after themselves and get themselves healthier.”
Council issues warning over bins
With the big student population in Headingley, lots of rubbish is generated by them, making certain areas look very untidy. Leeds City Council has recently issued letters to residents from across Headingley and Burley park, warning students about the rubbish and the upset they cause to other residents.
Lydia Pritchard lives in Headingley and has made complaints about the state students leave the streets in, both with rubbish and bottles: “It makes the area look awful and means you can quite often get rats and other dirty creatures,
“Quite often I’ll be out walking and see bins everywhere, with bags of rubbish everywhere. Bags left on the floor quite often have a split because rats are trying to get inside and it looks awful and smells really bad,
“I also wonder what it’s like for the people having to collect the bings and how it could be more pleasant and easier for them if people were tidier,
“I’d hate to think what someone visiting the area or looking at a house in the area would think. It’s not a big ask for people to take care over their own rubbish and a simple change will have a big impact on others in the area.”
Student Eleanor Lockwood also lives in the Headingley area and admitted that most students don’t have much care for the way the area looks: “I think lots of people don’t take much care because they don’t live here permanently so they aren’t as careful which shouldn’t be an excuse but might be one of the reasons,
“I find myself feeling quite guilty about it and ry my best but sometimes you think what’s the point because a lot of others aren’t doing the same,
“It is a simple change however, and I’ll try and be more careful in the future and encourage the others in my house to be careful in the future as well.”
Pritchard also commented on the progress made since the council sent the letter to houses across the area, “since the warning from the council, i think it has been slightly better and people seem to be taking more care but I think we’re still a million miles away from what it could be.”
Drugs across Leeds
Every year on April 4, people from across the city gather in Hyde Park and all smoke marijuana as part of a tradition thats recently come across from America. This event is policed every year but with hundreds of people taking part, it makes it hard for the police to take action.
With the smell and the litter generated, there have been complaints from people, but the police have very little they can do. West Yorkshire Police commented on the event saying, “It’s hard for us because if we arrest one person we have to arrest everybody and that’s just not feasible,
“Our presence on the day was mainly just to make sure that there’s no trouble and to try and stop people from committing other crimes that have a different affect on people.”
After the 420 ‘event’ in 2022, students took to the park to clear up the mess made from the previous day. The day can anger many people with people taking part seen littering, publicly urinating and causing lots of noise as well as a bad smell.
Pritchard also gave her feelings about the event: “It makes a lot of noise but the smell is probably the worst thing to come from it,
“I remember walking past the park and through it slightly the day after and the mess was massive and there were a few people helping clear up but it was awful,
“Similar to the bins in the area, if people want to take part in that sort of an event they should be more conscious about leaving a mess and clear up when they do make a mess,
“I think it’s something that the council should think more about and I feel for the police because there’s not a lot that they can do about it besides make sure that nothing else happens such as violence.”
Graffiti
One aspect of anti-social behaviour that’s very well known is graffiti. The topic causes some controversy with many people saying it makes areas look dingy and dirty but others argue the very opposite saying it can give areas character and allows people to be artistic.
The above picture has a similar story across Headingley, with many houses, walls, bins and other buildings having graffiti across them. Many cases of graffiti have improved the look of buildings in many people’s eyes, perhaps the most famous case being the Marcelo Bielsa mural opposite the Hyde Park pub.
Green also spoke about the graffiti found in Headingley and what she thinks about it: “I think it makes buildings look a lot more interesting and it shows there’s a lot of talent out there in every-day people,
“There’s a lot of murals around Headingley like near the cricket ground there are famous scores painted on walls and signs which help give the area character,
“I think there’s a time and a place for it and it can be insensitive depending on what the artwork says and where it is and I don’t think inappropriate words should be left on buildings but in most cases I think it looks good.”
According to the BBC, graffiti is ‘not a priority’ for the police in Leeds. with resources for the police across England getting smaller over the last decade or so, the police need to be better with their management of their resources and found investigating graffiti was ‘resource intensive’.
Whilst graffiti may not be at the top of the police in Leeds’ agenda, its safe to say that ant-social behaviour is taken very seriously. Whilst encouraging people to report what they see, the police struggle to deal with these issues.
However, the affect of the letter warning from the council to residents in Headingley has had an affect, one which other residents have noticed, so there might be a formula to follow. With the council, police and residents working together, Leeds might be able to resolve its problems with anti-social behaviour, making it a better city for all.
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