'Very little monstrous behaviour' - Humberside Police's verdict on Halloween and Bonfire Night

There was very little monstrous behaviour in the Humberside force area this Halloween, and bonfire night weekend has gone out with a bang too, say Humberside Police.

A spokesperson said: "A small minority acted in a way that was unacceptable, but as always, our neighbourhood, patrol and volunteer officers acted swiftly to deal with anyone who was trying to dampen the spirit of our local communities.

"We received five reports of Halloween related antisocial behaviour (ASB) on Thursday 31 October, along with two crime investigations logged relating to Halloween and the ‘Trick or treating’ tradition.

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"There were 80 reports of Bonfire Night ASB related incidents from Friday 1 November to Tuesday 5 November, and the vast majority of these were calls regarding fires and fireworks in inappropriate locations or being misused, which, again, were quickly dealt with by our officers and colleagues from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service."

During that time, 21 crime investigations were also logged for bonfire or firework related incidents.

The spokesperson added: "For those who did commit crimes within this period, our teams swiftly caught up with the people responsible and warned them about their behaviour. Some were also taken home and spoken to in front of their parents."

Superintendent Alex Weeks said: “The vast majority of people we met during this period were getting into the spirit of the occasion and it was great to see everyone coming together to enjoy themselves.

“However, we know the impact that antisocial behaviour can have on people – particularly those who are elderly or vulnerable, and that’s why we arranged our shift patterns to have additional officers out on the streets and joined forces with the local councils, along with Humberside Fire and Rescue Service to deal with any issues that arose as quickly as possible.

“Our Force Control Room also continues to exceed the National Average of call handling times and after receiving 110 more calls on Bonfire Night compared to an average day, our call handlers still answered 99% of all 999 and 101 calls within target. Our dispatchers also assisted officers in attending 95.5% of emergencies within 15 – 20 minutes. This just shows that in your time of need, we will get there as quickly as possible.

“There were a small minority who used it as an opportunity to act inappropriately and try to spoil the activities for others, but where we have had these kinds of issues, we’ve made sure the caller was okay and dealt with the people responsible.

“As a result, we only saw five arrests, eight dispersal orders issued, and seventeen stop and searches conducted by officers for crimes relating to antisocial behaviour during the Topaz period.

“With that said, for the most part it has been an enjoyable #OpTopaz period for our officers and staff this year, and not to wish the time away, but we will now be getting ready to countdown to the #YuletideSeason!”