SPECIALISED police patrols are on the streets of Kent this week during half term for Operation Excalibur to combat anti-social behaviour.

The initiative was launched by Chief Constable Mike Fuller on Monday. It is targeting the perpetrators of criminal damage, vandalism, rowdiness, nuisance behaviour and street drinking.

Kent Police has devised tactics to deal with specific concerns for each policing area. These include licensing checks, high-profile foot patrols and road checks.

Incidents will be tackled using fresh and existing anti-social behaviour (ASB) legislation.

Mr Fuller said many people had expressed "very, very strong views and feelings" about ASB to him even before his appointment.

"They felt the lower level quality-of-life issues were not being given sufficient priority," he said. "We have listened to their concerns, we do care about tackling ASB, now we are going to take action.

"Operation Excalibur is part of a longer term campaign with a view to bringing about public reassurance and making people feel safe in their homes and on the streets of Kent."

The police would be working with public transport operators to eliminate ASB on buses and trains, impinging on safety and comfort.

Officers were keen to work with licensees and would be targeting alcohol sales to underage drinkers.

Enforcement is considered a key to the success of the operation but some policing areas will concentrate on raising the profile of their youth projects.

Working in partnership with other agencies, including the county and district councils, is considered vital to maximising the campaign's impact.

Operation Excalibur was launched in Herne Bay, the focus of a project to block ASB on the Greenhill estate.

This has been spearheaded by Canterbury's Public Safety and Education Unit (PSEU) which hosted the launch. The unit is run jointly by the police and Canterbury council from Herne Bay Police Station.

Its aim is co-ordinating a multi-agency response to tackle anti-social behaviour, crime and the fear of crime.

Mr Fuller said the "one stop shop" approach was crucial so that people seeking help did not get "passed around".

He commended the Canterbury unit as a "model of good practice" for the whole of Kent and said he hoped other authorities would adopt its approach.

Fresh powers are coming into force under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act.

New legislation includes wider use of fixed penalty notices and applying them to 16 and 17-year-olds, for example in incidents of noise niusance, truancy and graffiti.

There will be powers to disperse groups in areas suffering persistent and serious ASB.

It is to become an offence to sell spray paints to under 18s and the district councils will have more power to curb fly-tipping, fly-posting and graffiti.

The legislation will increase powers to shut down establishments that create noise nuisance.

Community involvement is considered essential. People are urged to help for example by setting up Neighbourhood Watch schemes, regularly reporting incidents and generally being proactive.

Mr Fuller said 63 anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) had been imposed in Kent with very few breaches. Police and community support officers had worked with 840 problem families since last year.

Operation Excalibur was not a "short term quick fix". Strategies to beat ASB would continue in the months and years ahead

Mike Fuller told KM-fm why he decided to launch the operation...