7 BOROUGH OF POOLE
COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND EDUCATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
16 NOVEMBER 2004
TACKLING ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN POOLE
1. PURPOSE AND POLICY CONTEXT
1.1 This report sets out the performance of the Council since January 2004 in tackling anti social behaviour using a variety of tools and methods in partnership with other service units and external agencies.
2. RECOMMENDATIONS
2.1. Members are asked to note and comment on the report.
2.2. Members are asked to agree to receive a report on developing improved processes for tackling anti-social behaviour in March 2005.
3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
3.1. The Council have a number of statutory obligations in relation to tackling anti-social behaviour, namely;
a) under s 5-7 of the Crime and Disorder Act being a responsible authority in relation to the Crime and Disorder Partnership, identifying local concerns by asking peoples opinions on what community safety issues are of concern to them and developing a strategy to combat this
b) under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act to do all they reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder in Poole.
c) Various obligations under the new Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003
d) The Housing Act
3.2. The Council do not work alone in tackling anti-social behaviour, key partners include the Police, Probation service, Youth offending team, Connexions service and the voluntary and community sector i.e. non – statutory youth provision including outreach.
3.3. As part of the council’s involvement in the Crime and Disorder Partnership, officers have been involved in producing Poole’s third Crime Audit, which for the first time is now a combined Crime and Drugs Audit. This reviews data including consultation on levels, patterns and trends of crime and drug use in Poole. The findings on anti-social behaviour are important to note:
1 a) Over the last 4 years residents of Poole through the local Poole Opinion Panel have themselves prioritised this as their biggest concern.
b) Poole Police in conjunction with partners are the only area in Dorset to successfully reduce anti-social behaviour by 4% in 03/04 compared with 02/03.
c) Criminal damage is the biggest recordable offence related to anti- social behaviour and as such the Council with the Police have set a challenging stretching target to reduce this as part of the Council’s LPSA. In order to achieve this a community warden has been appointed using LPSA pump priming funds.
d) In terms of who is committing these offences, from records available, male offenders aged between 15 and 19 years old are committing the majority. Victim profiles have shown that if you are male between 30 and 39 or female between 35 and 44 you are more likely to be a victim of this type of anti-social behaviour.
e) Criminal damage has cost £5,222,000 in Poole across the 3 years of the audit period using Home Office national estimates for costs for crime.
f) Abandoned and destroyed vehicles form the second biggest recorded offence in this area.
g) One of the audits recommendations identified that earlier intervention was key to preventing anti-social behaviour from escalating into a more serious enforcement issue.
4. PARTNERSHIP WORKING TO TACKLE ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
4.1Over the last two years Poole’s Crime and Disorder Partnership have invested partnership funding in a local Anti-social Behaviour Co-ordinator. This has enabled co-ordination of cases, developing of robust procedures and information for the public on what the council can do to help tackle anti-social behaviour.
4.2Since January 2004 there have been a range of tools and methods to address anti-social behaviour affecting residents of Poole by young people and adults. These tools range from using mediation, support to parents to using housing and crime related legislation.
4.3 Numbers to the Community Safety Team between January and end of September are as follows:
a) There have been 153 complaints reported to community safety b) 29 case conferences have been held c) there have been 36 successful interventions to halt behaviour before legal action.
2 4.4ABC’s and ASBO’s are only one way in which anti-social behaviour is dealt with, other interventions have resulted in 2 mediations, 2 people attending anger management, 2 positive incentives for young people, 1 parenting course, and 1 active referral to Children and families. IN all of these cases the intervention prevented the behaviour from escalating, however the individuals are still monitored.
4.5In conjunction with this acts of anti-social behaviour in Poole’s housing stock have resulted in 23 Nosps (Notices of Seeking Possession) and 8 NTQ’s (Notice to Quit).
4.6There have been 7 Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, otherwise known as ABC’s, signed voluntarily by the person committing the anti-social behaviour and key agencies who will then monitor the agreed behaviour. 5 of these 7 young people are being offered positive behaviour incentives to reward good behaviour rather than punish bad behaviour alone. There are also a further 6 in the process of agreement. This means that interview dates are being arranged, the content of the ABC is being determined or they are awaiting a case conference to review prohibitions or interventions to back up the content of the ABC so as not to set up the person to fail.
4.7Anti-social Behaviour Orders, a community order heard as a civil matter, have also been used in Poole as one of many methods to try and prevent further acts of anti-social behaviour to residents of Poole. Since January 2004 their have been 3 full ASBO’s granted by court, these were applied for in conjunction with the Police and 1 interim ASBO (these are granted as an interim step while preparing an application for a full ASBO). Of these 2 full ASBO were for adults 19 and over and the interim is also for an adult. I adult was convicted of a criminal offence and has received a four year prison sentence, 1 young persons breached his ASBO approximately 10 times and was eventually received a 4 month prison sentence. The other adult on the full ASBO has breached this numerous times and has received a 2 month prison sentence, he is currently on bail for a further 6 breaches. The individual on the Interim ASBO has now left Poole and the county.
4.8There are a further 5 ASBO’s applications in various stages, three of which have court dates. Of these, 3 are for adults and 2 for under 18’s.
4.9The types of prohibitions written in an ASBO could include some of the general types of prohibitions below but every ASBO is specific to the individual:
a) they could be banned from the area where the behaviour has been caused b) They could be banned from associating with those who they cause trouble with
3 c) They could be banned from intimidating or harassing specific people/individuals
d) They could be banned form specific acts like consuming alcohol, riding mopeds, entering certain premises, writing graffiti, causing vandalism etc.
e) There is also a generic clause in every ASBO which states they must not do anything which could cause alarm, distress or harassment to anyone in Poole.
f) ASBO prohibitions can now be county and in fact country wide if necessary.
4.10 When an ASBO is breached the matter becomes a criminal issue and the CPS and police take the matter before the courts, penalties can be sever and are intended to try and deter the individual from breaching the orders terms. However of the 3 current full ASBO’s the following breaches have occurred. The first ASBO the individual has committed 7 breaches, the second has committed 6 breaches, the individual currently in prison and the third has been convicted of another offence and is currently in prison.
SIMON HENDEY HOUSING & COMMUNITY SERVICES 16TH NOVEMBER 2004
Contact Officer: Amanda Bombardiere Community Safety Manager Housing & Community Services
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