Drug crime in the city centre, Oaklands College and e-bikes in Harpenden are police priorities to January. Speeding and Sopwell have been dropped.
Drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour in St Peters ward, the city centre, is a new police priority in St Albans. It is one of seven issues local officers will give extra attention to over the next four months.
Hertfordshire Constabulary published the new list on 24 September. It covers the district’s three neighbourhood policing areas: St Albans Central, North and West; London Colney, St Stephen and St Albans East; and Harpenden and Rural. Each priority starts as a “You said” from residents, so the list is a fair guide to what people have been reporting.
Two old priorities have been dropped: speeding in Harpenden and Sandridge, and crime and anti-social behaviour in Sopwell ward.
The priorities, area by area
| Area | Priority | Status |
|---|---|---|
| St Albans Central, North and West | Drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour in St Peters ward (city centre) | New |
| St Albans Central, North and West | Nuisance and anti-social vehicle use, including e-scooters and e-bikes, including on the Alban Way | Widened |
| London Colney, St Stephen and St Albans East | Rowdy, inconsiderate or anti-social behaviour outside Oaklands College | Reinstated |
| London Colney, St Stephen and St Albans East | Anti-social behaviour and drug use in The Camp | Continuing |
| London Colney, St Stephen and St Albans East | Vehicle-related anti-social behaviour at Starbucks and the A414 North Orbital Road | Continuing |
| Harpenden and Rural | E-scooters and e-bikes around the town centre, Station Road, Wheathampstead High Street, the Nickey Line and Redbourn | New |
| Harpenden and Rural | Anti-social behaviour in parks | Continuing |
The city centre: drugs are the new focus
The force says it will run high-visibility and covert patrols in St Peters ward to build intelligence. It has already carried out a drugs warrant in Lower Dagnell Street on 14 September. It says it will work with drug and homelessness charities and with St Albans City and District Council.
It also says it will look at three formal tools:
- Community Protection Warnings, a written warning to stop specific behaviour
- Community Protection Notices, which can follow a warning and carry a fine if broken
- Criminal Behaviour Orders, which a court can impose after a conviction
The existing e-scooter and e-bike priority has been widened to cover any vehicle driven or ridden anti-socially or illegally, because the force says that is what is causing most concern. Officers will keep seizing e-bikes and e-scooters and running checks on e-scooters and food delivery bikes. The Alban Way is named in the priority.
Sopwell comes off the list. The force says it supported the council in getting closure orders on Cottonmill Lane, Abbotts Avenue West and Cyrils Way. McDonald’s now has a Shopsafe radio and alert app, with support from St Albans BID. The force says reports of anti-social behaviour in the area have fallen as a result.
London Colney and the east: Oaklands College is back
The Oaklands College priority is not new. It was a priority before and has been reinstated after an increase in reports of anti-social behaviour there. The force says it will run high-visibility and covert patrols at the college and on the surrounding roads.
In The Camp, the force lists what officers did under the existing priority:
- regular foot patrols across Thirlmere Drive, Buttermere Close, Keswick Close, Richard Stagg Close, the Camp playing fields, Dellfields, New House Park, Hill End Lane and Highfield Park
- teenagers arrested and charged over a motorcycle stolen from Napsbury and found on the Alban Way, and a robbery suspect arrested
- three people identified and spoken to after a motorcycle stolen from Dellfields was recovered in Lycaste Close
- support for residents and councillors installing CCTV over the Camp playing fields and the gazebo area
On the A414 by Starbucks, the long-running problem is anti-social driving. The Police and Crime Commissioner has paid for acoustic monitoring cameras. The force says calls have fallen with regular patrols. It says warning letters will go out, followed by seizure of vehicles driven anti-socially above the noise threshold, under section 59 powers.
Harpenden: e-bikes in the town centre and the parks
E-scooters and e-bikes are a new priority in Harpenden, Wheathampstead and Redbourn. The force says it will start with education on the law and follow up with section 59 seizures for anyone riding anti-socially or illegally. It gives one example: a Sur-Ron bike seized on 21 July after being ridden the wrong way down Harpenden High Street and on footpaths.
The parks priority names Rothamsted Park, The Common, Redbourn Common, Wheathampstead playing fields and Oakley Road. The force says five teenagers have been identified and given Acceptable Behaviour Agreements, with their parents told. A breach could lead to a Criminal Behaviour Order. It says it is working with the parish and town councils to set up sports activities.
Speeding comes off the list. The force says officers ran speed enforcement across Harpenden, Wheathampstead, Redbourn and villages, including Redbourn Road, and two drivers have been summonsed to court. It says it will still deal with speeding, but it is no longer a neighbourhood priority.
What the police.uk figures show
The public record backs up the direction of the list. We counted every anti-social behaviour report on police.uk within each of the three neighbourhoods’ published boundaries, for the twelve months to July 2026, the latest month available.
Reports rose in every area between the two halves of the year:
- London Colney, St Stephen and St Albans East: 292 from August to January, 410 from February to July, up 40%
- Harpenden and Rural: 242, then 334, up 38%
- St Albans Central, North and West: 481, then 548, up 14%
The east’s monthly figure was 35 in January 2026 and 86 in May, and it was still 82 in July. That fits the force’s reason for reinstating the Oaklands College priority. Anti-social behaviour on police.uk counts reports, not proven incidents, and locations are mapped to the nearest point on a set list, so street-level totals are approximate.
What it means for you
- Report it, because reports set the list. Every priority on it began as a resident’s concern. Non-emergency reports go through the Hertfordshire Constabulary website or 101; call 999 if a crime is happening now.
- It is against the law to ride a privately owned e-scooter on public land, government guidance says. Police can seize any vehicle under section 59 if it is ridden anti-socially.
- Sign up to Herts Connected, the force’s community messaging service, if you want updates on these priorities and a say in the next set.
- If you live in The Camp, the CCTV over the playing fields and gazebo area is now in place, the force says.
The A414 by Park Street is also under a long closure order; our St Albans roadworks page has the nights it is shut.
Sources
- Hertfordshire Constabulary: St Albans district neighbourhood priorities latest, published 24 September 2026, for every priority, its status, the actions listed and the priorities dropped.
- police.uk data API, street-level crime for Hertfordshire neighbourhoods F01 (Harpenden and Rural), F02 (St Albans Central, North and West) and F03 (London Colney, St Stephens and St Albans East), August 2025 to July 2026, counted within each neighbourhood’s boundary on 28 September 2026.
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