Anti-social behaviour cuts fear

Cutting efforts to fight anti-social behaviour would be “a very significant mistake” for police, a watchdog says.

The Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Denis O’Connor said some forces in England and Wales already responded too slowly to calls from vulnerable people.

And he warned that if spending cuts led police to neglect the problem it could tip some areas into a “spiral of economic and social decline”.

Police chiefs say they are deeply aware of the impact of anti-social behaviour.

The chief inspector’s warning comes in a wide-ranging review of how well forces tackle anti-social behaviour, backed up by a survey of more than 5,600 people.

He said officers often did not take anti-social behaviour seriously because they did not regard it as real crime.

He said he wanted “feet on the street” and warned chief constables to think carefully about coming cuts.

“Confronted by spending cuts, some police chiefs and community safety partnership members may be tempted to reduce the amount of work they do in relation to ASB and to concentrate instead upon volume crime,” said Sir Denis.

“All the evidence we have available indicates that this would be a very significant mistake.”

Nine out of 10 people questioned in the survey told Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) that the police were responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour.

More than a third of those who had experienced problems had changed their routines, such as staying in at night and avoiding public places.

Three out of 10 people said they had experienced intimidation after standing up to bullies – rising to more than four out of 10 where the victim was disabled.

But, Sir Denis’s report said that only 13 of the forces in England and Wales had systems in place to identify quickly the calls that had come from victims most in need of support.

His report said that although all 43 forces said that anti-social behaviour was a priority, the police response was extremely patchy because officers treated the incidents differently to recordable crimes.

“Problems that are not considered criminal were then discounted as ‘not real police work’.

Sir Denis said: “The public do not distinguish between anti-social behaviour and crime. For them, it’s just a sliding scale of grief.

“Make no mistake, it requires feet on the streets.”

The HMIC said that police should focus on reducing “harm” caused to communities rather than simply trying to increase the number of crimes they were solving on paper. Sir Denis said this call to focus on harm was supported by fresh academic research by Cardiff University.

It suggests that more police resources devoted to anti-social behaviour would mean communities would be more mobilised to reclaim their streets.

The HMIC report develops previous criticisms made by Sir Denis who has repeatedly called on forces to rethink how they do their job. Earlier in the summer, he said that only 11% of officers were available at any one time to respond to calls.

His intervention comes as chief constables negotiate with the Home Office over cuts.

Earlier this year, Home Secretary Theresa May said in a speech that she wanted a rethink of how she wants to see anti-social behaviour tackled, saying that there was “no magic Whitehall lever” that could be pulled.

Speaking for the Association of Chief Police Officers, Assistant Chief Constable Simon Edens said they were “acutely aware” of the devastating impact anti-social behaviour.

“What this report highlights is that where there is police action, victim satisfaction in the police response to anti-social behaviour is high,” he said.

“Modern policing has to meet a hugely complex range of challenges. Anti-social behaviour is not a matter for the police to tackle alone, and the service supports the government’s approach to encouraging greater personal and community involvement in neighbourhoods.”

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