A MAJOR campaign to tackle criminal damage and anti-social behaviour gets under way on Teesside today.

Neighbourhood policing teams in the Redcar and Cleveland area will join forces with anti-social behaviour and community protection teams to tackle the problem, which traditionally increases during October and November.

Operation Equinox, which will run through to mid-November, aims to divert youths away from trouble – and away from the law courts.

The main themes of the operation are education, prevention, diversion and enforcement – although police and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council hope that through education and diversion, the need for enforcement will be reduced. Equinox will also build on the achievements of the ongoing Operation Shepherd, in which plain clothes officers have been mixing with offenders, tackling nuisance drinking, noisy gatherings of modified cars and general damage.

Incidents of bad behaviour have been logged, in some cases by using video and sound recording.

The majority of offenders have been dealt with in a way that has kept them out of the criminal justice system, although during peak periods of offending, the emphasis will change towards prosecution.

Councillor Dave McLuckie, who is chairman of Cleveland Police Authority and the council’s lead member for community protection, said: “During the summer holidays, the Safer Communities Weeks of Action programme for young people proved very successful and the police will be teaming up with partners for similar activities during the half-term holiday.

“Wherever possible, our aim is to prevent young people falling foul of the criminal justice system, but at the same time we aim to make it clear that those who indulge in activities which cause problems for local communities can expect to face tough action, including, if necessary, prosecutions and anti-social behaviour orders.”

Neighbourhood Policing Chief Inspector Chris Sadler said the use of Operation Shepherd in recent months had given a clear picture of what kind of anti-social behaviour was taking place in Redcar and east Cleveland.

“Many of the young people we’ve encountered are simply hanging around together, rather than causing a problem,”

he said.

“There’s some evidence to suggest that there are occasions when complaints about young people are based on intolerance and misunderstanding and we need to change some people’s misconceptions of youth behaviour.

“However, it is clear that there are significant problems with loutish behaviour, which we are determined to address.”