The Street Intervention Service (SIS) is a multi-agency initiative led by Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset Constabulary, and includes members seconded from Bristol Drugs Project and St Mungo’s. Our Support Officer Lewis is funded by the Business Improvement District (BID). The aim of the SIS team is to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) caused by members of the street community, which could include persistent begging, public drug use or threatening behaviour.
The approach we take is to assess perpetrators of anti-social behaviour to see why they are engaged in such behaviour. We then look to put interventions in place to help them stop that behaviour. This can include support with their housing, substance misuse, health or finances. Alongside this support we can also put boundaries in place using formal tools and powers such as civil injunctions, Community Protection Notices or Criminal Behaviour Orders.
We believe that through proactively engaging with people at street level, we can help them make long lasting changes to improve their individual situations and which, in turn will benefit the city centre overalls citizens and businesses.