Misbehaving Lincoln kids made to sign behaviour contracts in bid to improve city centre

Almost 30 young people have signed behaviour contracts after being caught drinking, refusing to leave stores, and intimidating people in Lincoln city centre. The acceptable behaviour contracts from Lincolnshire Police set out the expected conduct of the young person.

This comes after a spike in anti social behaviour in the city centre. Since the summer 190 advice letters have been sent to parents and guardians by Lincolnshire Police and The City of Lincoln Council, as well as 41 warning letters.

Youngsters were warned that they needed to change their behaviour or be asked to sign an ABC. Each contract is tailored to the individual and addresses a certain issue, such as a curfew on home time, not drinking in public, and limiting the number of people they can socialise in a group with.

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Children as young as 12 have been causing anti-social behaviour in Lincoln. A total of 27 children with ages ranging up to 16 have signed these contracts and admitted that they behaved in an unacceptable way.

The contracts last for six months but can be extended if there are breaches, but breaches could also lead to legal action. The ABC is not legally binding but it can be used as evidence to show that further action is needed.

PC Molisa McGinnis explained: “The anti-social behaviour escalated in the summer last year, and we started to see a rise in the number of reports coming in, and increased concerns from local businesses and members of the public."

Areas being impacted included the Central Car Park by the bus station, the Cornhill, and High Street areas. PC McGinnis continued: "Our officers and the City of Lincoln Council were receiving reports of youths threatening customers, refusing to leave stores, riding e-scooters and bikes on public footways, and drinking issues that mainly happened during the weekend between 6pm and 10pm.

"We knew that we needed to do something, and engaging these young people in a way that would help them understand what was and wasn’t okay was the way to go. We also had additional officers tasked with patrols, and the first step in most cases was to issue an initial warning to the children involved, which includes speaking to their parents or legal guardians."

"In a large number of those cases, we didn’t see repeated ASB. However, the advice and warning letters didn't always hit home and children continued to behaviour in "an unacceptable way."