Calls for
new powers to tackle persistent troublemakers and yob behaviour
Bob Blackman,
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Harrow East, called for tougher police
powers to tackle anti-social behaviour and crack down on yobs.
This comes as new
answers to Parliamentary Questions show that across London, 387,862 incidents
of anti-social behaviour were reported to the police last year. But because of
the massive under-reporting of such low-level crime, the real number of actual
incidents could be as high as 3,562,018 last year.
Under new Conservative
proposals, firm action would be taken against the yob behaviour that blights
neighbourhoods, as well as taking steps to tackle the underlying causes.
·
The police would have stronger powers to remove
troublemakers from Harrow's streets -taking yobs to the police station rather
than moving them on, while new curfew orders could 'ground' persistent
troublemakers at night after school hours.
·
Licensing laws would be more robustly enforced,
revoking the licences of any shops in Harrow which systematically peddle
alcohol to under-age children.
·
Violent offenders would be prosecuted instead of
being let off with a caution.
·
More police would patrol the the streets, by
cutting police paperwork and bureaucracy which pins them down to police HQ in South
Harrow.
Bob Blackman said:
"This Labour Government
has been soft on crime, and soft on the causes of crime. We live in a country
where no one seems to say 'no' any more and nothing happens when a young person
steps out of line. This has to change.
"With so many
reported and unreported cases of anti-social behaviour, Harrow's police need the power to 'ground' young persistent
troublemakers - so we can prevent them from getting into worse trouble. We need
to get more police on the beat, prosecute serious offenders and tackle the
underlying causes of crime such as drug addiction, educational failure and
family breakdown.
"Conservatives
are the party of law and order - championing common sense, strong families, united
communities and a system which places the victim above the criminal.''
Notes
to Editors
GROWING PROBLEM OF ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
·
Cost of anti-social behaviour: The cost to Government agencies of responding
to reports of anti-social behaviour in England and Wales is approximately £3.4
billion a year (National Audit Office, Home Office: Tackling Anti-Social
Behaviour, 2006-2007, 7 December 2006).
·
High levels of anti-social behaviour: On average, 16 per cent of the
population perceive high levels of anti-social behaviour in their area, with
the young and the less well-off being disproportionately affected (Home Office,
Crime in England and Wales 2007/08, 17 July 2008, Table 5.04).
·
Almost two-thirds of under 16s breach their ASBOs: Between June 2000
and December 2006, 49 per cent of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders were breached.
The breach rate for 10-16 year olds is even higher. It now stands at 61 per
cent - up from 57 per cent (Home Office, Anti-social Behaviour Order Statistics;
Detailed breakdown of data by CJS area, 8 May 2008).
·
The caution culture: The number of young people cautioned by the police
for indictable offences, such as violence against the person, robbery and theft
has increased by a quarter in the last five years. There were 58,600 under 18s
cautioned in 2003 compared to 75,300 in 2007- an increase of 28 per cent
(Ministry of Justice, Criminal Statistics England and Wales 2007, November
2008, Table 3.4).
·
Police spend more time on paperwork than on patrol: Just 14 per cent of
all police officers' time is spent on patrol compared with 20 per cent of their
time on paperwork (Hansard, 29 September 2008, col. 2353W; 10 December 2007,
col. 91W).
Conservative
proposals to tackle anti-social behaviour
- Police should be able to remove young
troublemakers from our streets altogether, not just disperse them into a
different area. Police should be given the power, sometimes, to take them back
to the police station and make their parents come and collect them. Conservatives
are exploring the best way of implementing this.
- One of the options under active consideration is
the extension of powers that are already available to police officers to get
young people off the streets. Section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003
gives police the power to disperse groups in a designated area where there is
persistent anti-social behaviour and return unsupervised children to their
homes, if found to be out after 9pm. Under the new proposals, there could be an
option to take anti-social youths to a police station to reflect the
seriousness of the anti-social behaviour.
- Police should have power to apply to a Magistrate
for an order against a persistent troublemaker, confining them to their homes
for up to a month - except for during school hours. If an individual breaks
that curfew order, they should expect to find themselves arrested. The aim of
this short, sharp, shock would be to help prevent young troublemakers from
going on to commit more serious offences. At the moment, an ASBO is in force
for a minimum of two years and is not a fast enough punishment.
LOCAL
FIGURES
Only 11 per cent of victims report anti-social
behaviour to the police. According to the British Crime Survey, 73 per cent of
people experiencing anti-social behaviour do not complain about incidents to
anyone. An average of 11 per cent of
people reported incidents to the police or community support officers (Home
Office, Perceptions of anti-social behaviour: Findings from the 2007/08 British
Crime Survey Supplementary Volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2007/08,
Statistical Bulletin 15/08, 2008, Table 1.9).
Assuming that the 3.8 million incidents of
anti-social behaviour recorded by police last year only represents 11 per cent
of the total, then the actual number is likely to be in the region of 35
million. The table below shows the number of incidents recorded in each police
force area in 2007-08, and the estimated actual number of incidents.
|
Anti-social behaviour (2007-08) |
Number of
incidents recorded by police |
Estimated
number of actual incidents |
|
England and Wales |
3,868,002 |
35,163,655 |
|
|
|
|
|
Metropolitan Police |
387,862 |
3,526,018 |
Data
source (excluding estimates): Hansard,
21 January 2009, Col. 1486W.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090121/text/90121w0013.htm
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