Police in Britain urged to take new approach on anti-social behaviour

More than 26 incidents of anti-social behaviour take place every minute, the chief inspector of constabulary said yesterday.

Sir Denis O’Connor said one such incident was reported to police every 10 seconds but tackling anti-social behaviour was often not seen as “real police work” and “does not have the same status as ‘crime’ for the police”.

By “retreating from the streets” since the 1970s, the police “undermined their connection with the public and allowed some of these things to gather momentum”, he said.

“It was a mistake, a strategic error as they might say in military terms.”

Forces across the country need to recognise that in nine out of 10 cases, police are the first authority the public turn to when suffering anti-social behaviour and a new approach was needed “to restore civility to public spaces”, he said.

Only a quarter of the incidents of anti-social behaviour, about 3.5 million, were reported and communities were “becoming used to things we should not have become used to”, he said.

He said there had been a “degree of normalisation” around anti-social behaviour, such as dropping litter, drunken behaviour and vandalism, which should not be accepted.

It was “affecting our way of life”, he said, with people avoiding certain streets, refusing to go out at night and avoiding groups of youths.

In the face of widespread cuts, reducing the amount of work done in relation to anti-social behaviour “would be a very significant mistake”, he said.

Some current responses by police, including downgrading anti-social behaviour calls to a lower priority, a lack of technical ability to identify repeat victims and “long-winded invisible partnership processes”, were “making matters worse”, he said.

Launching the report on re-thinking the policing of anti-social behaviour, Sir Denis said: “Make no mistake, it requires feet on the streets.”

Martin Innes, professor of Cardiff University, said the cuts mean forces will have to be “smaller, sharper and smarter” in the future.

About 45 per cent of all calls made to the police were about anti-social behaviour during 2009 and this year, with 2.1 million of these related to rowdy or disorderly behaviour.

A poll of more than 5,600 people who contacted police about anti-social behaviour found 71 per cent had called at least twice in the past year, so-called “repeat victims”.

It also found 32 per cent experienced intimidation after standing up to anti-social behaviour, with this figure increasing to 61 per cent in areas where the quality of life was deemed “bad”.

The survey found 83 per cent of those who were aware the police had taken action were satisfied with the response, but more than a third of those surveyed were unaware of any police action.

And while all 43 forces state anti-social behaviour was a priority, only 13 forces can effectively identify repeat victims and those most at risk of harm at the time of the call.

But the report cast doubt upon the future willingness of individuals to confront anti-social behaviour, with 32 per cent saying they experienced intimidation afterwards. This figure rose to 61 per cent in areas where the quality of life was deemed “bad”, the poll showed.

Rowdy, noisy or inconsiderate behaviour accounted for the “overwhelming majority” of reported events, with 2.1 million calls making up 61 per cent of all incidents of anti-social behaviour, figures released today showed.

Vehicle nuisance, including vehicles being repaired on roads and nuisance parking, made up 10 per cent of incidents (344,930 calls), followed by nuisance neighbours (eight per cent, 286,651 calls) and malicious phone calls and e-mails (six per cent, 206,385).

Other instances included hoax calls to the emergency services (four per cent, 137,729), abandoned vehicles which were not stolen or causing an obstruction (three per cent, 115,999) and noise from pubs and clubs (three per cent, 88,392).

A series of high-profile cases in recent years has thrown the issue into the political spotlight.