Member of Parliament for the Isle of Wight Andrew Turner has welcomed planned new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.
New legislation will trim complex red tape so that police and other local agencies will be able to crack down on problems when they are reported and deal with them quickly and efficiently.
Detailed research has revealed that 68 per cent of people reporting anti-social behaviour to the police have done so more than once; and usually regarding the same problem. Over 3 million incidents were reported in 2010/11, but that may only be the tip of the iceberg as it was also found that some people don’t bother to report low level crime or nuisance as they have little faith in action being taken.
A white paper on anti-social behaviour puts forward plans that will mean for the first time, victims who feel their problems are not being taken seriously enough will have the right to force action.
The Island’s MP said :
“This sort of crime often goes unreported because the existing way of dealing with it doesn’t work. Anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) are time consuming to put in place and for some people they have become a badge of honour. It is proposed to cut nineteen different tools and powers down to six, including a Criminal Behaviour Order, which will have a simpler threshold than the ASBO, as agencies will not have to re-prove past anti-social behaviour.
“Our police force does a very good job under difficult circumstances, but I know people often feel that low-level crime is not taken seriously enough. The Government must put victims first and give those responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour the tools to do the job properly – and these plans show they are committed to doing that.”
The White Paper can be found on the Home Office via:
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/anti-social-behaviour/white-paper website link.
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