[Mrluvaluva]

Anti-social behaviour orders are to be scrapped under Government plans to speed up the response to complaints from the public.

Under the changes, police will be forced to investigate a situation after complaints by five different people or three separate complaints from one person.

The plans, set out in a White Paper, are aimed at putting an end to the horror stories of victims being ignored despite repeatedly complaining about problem neighbours.

It follows high-profile cases including that of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her disabled daughter Francecca Hardwick, 18, in 2007 after 10 years of sustained abuse.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: "I want to see the police dealing with anti-social behaviour when it happens and when people are reporting it."

The Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo), introduced by Tony Blair in 1998, will be axed in favour of new criminal and civil powers aimed at streamlining the system.

The Asbo is being replaced with two different orders: a new Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) for more serious issues and a Civil Crime Prevention Injunction (CCPI) for lesser offences.


The CPI can be used earlier - within days or hours - and needs a lower standard of proof, although breaches can still land the culprit with a fine or even a jail sentence.

The CBO would impose a ban, like an Asbo, but could also force people into changing their behaviour - such as imposing dog training or drug rehabilitation.

One of the other measures will be a Community Protection Notice, which would punish people who blight their community - for example by using their gardens as a dumping ground.

There will also be simpler powers to close premises that are a magnet for trouble and tougher action for nightmare neighbours, including faster eviction processes.

The ideas will be introduced in three pilot schemes in Manchester, Brighton and Hove, and West Lindsey in Lincolnshire.

The Home Secretary told Sky: "Sadly too many Asbos are breached, for some they became a badge of honour and up and down the country despite the Asbos being in place for several years now we still see people's lives blighted by anti-social behaviour.

"What we want to do is put victims first, trust professionals at a local level and give communities more power to make sure something is happening. Crucially this is not a one-size-fits-all model."

However, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed the new measures will make it harder for the authorities to take tough action against anti-social behaviour.

"It should not take three separate complaints, or five different households complaining before getting a response. All complaints should be dealt with, and quickly: no-one wants to wait for the Government's slow trigger," she said.

"Breaching anti-social behaviour orders will no longer be a criminal offence. And housing associations have warned that rebranding injunctions will make it harder to deal with neighbours from hell because it rips up years of case law and experience.

"Ministers' grand promises on anti-social behaviour are no use if they are taking away the police to do the job and cutting back the effective powers they need."

Campaigner Mary Armstrong, who led a long campaign to drive anti-social behaviour out of the Irk Valley estate in Collyhurst, Manchester, told Sky News that a more streamlined system is long overdue.

"It was taking too long - the process of first of all getting the anti-social behaviour order and then, if it was breached, there was an even bigger gap - the whole thing was just too lengthy," she said.

Vicki Helyar-Cardwell, director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, warned that enforcement powers alone will not be enough to prevent anti-social behaviour.

"There is a risk that if these new measures are not accompanied by necessary support in communities - youth clubs, family support and health services - they will do little in the long term to tackle this important issue," she said.

"There is a real risk that these new orders will result in more and more people being sent to prison for breaching their order when the original offence would not have warranted custody."

Sky News political correspondent Sophy Ridge added: "People will fear that the same problems with Asbos will still apply here. Will young people be demonised? How do you stop people breaching these orders? Theresa May was pretty confident that this will improve what happened with Asbos but it does wait to be seen."


Sky

[arista]

"Criminal Behaviour Order "

That Makes Sense

As these Punks are Criminals
not Honour Badge Holders.

[joeysteele]

It sounds on the surface an administrative nightmare for the Police. However,I believe a lot of discretion is going to be left as to what the Police themselves think should be done in such circumstances,which is part of the good bits as to this proposal.

The problems with neighbours can often though be a problem that the Police should not be involved in an any event, for instance, I have my pet dog, a Staffie, with me while at Uni, he stays with me in the house I share with other students,he is well behaved and never out without me and on a harness and lead.

Some neighbours though, reported that there was a dangerous dog at the house only from looking at him,the Police came but were very apologetic to me after they saw him,we have a 6 foot fence all round the garden, this was though prejudiced,interfering neighbours just wanting to cause bother because there are students,(who they also didn't like) living in the house and also that they didn't like Staffie dogs.
The Police were brilliant and we joked a bit about it but there was a classic waste of police time. If you have neighbours falling out the slightest thing they see as wrong in their eyes,they will be reporting it to the Police who will have to now come out and deal with something or nothing.
It turned out they reported him for going for them as they passed the back garden in a cut there is there,what he did was bark once behind the 6 foot fence as they went past as he was playing with a boom ball he has.There are narrow gaps in the fence between the posts and they had peered in and seen he was a Staffie. He'd actually done nothing towards them at all.
As I say the Police were great about it all and really apologised to me but where will they have the time to deal with this kind of nonsense and prejudice too against dogs and students.

I agree ASBOS are useless, people do see them as earned medals but this new plan seems to have flaws too.It is worth a try though,see how it goes in the selected places for trial but I can see this causing big problems for the already overstretched Police force.
ASBOS need replacing definately,I agree with the Govt on that, I am not sure this is the way forward though

Theresa May,is likely one of the worst Home Secretary's there will ever have been,she is a walking disaster.This lady really needs to be moved from this high position or go herself.

[Marc]

So neighbourhoods will just rally around and get 5 people to complain?

[Kizzy]

I agree, and the reception she recieved from Police officers recently proves that...
Leaving it up to the police to devise the new measures is controversial.
The government are being very canny, they know they will at the first sign of bad press or a difficulty implamenting these new measures throw their hands up and criticise the police...
Local councils have the best chance of success, where the troublemakers are social housing tenants their home within the community should be at risk if they continue to act in an anti-social manner in and around it.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by Marc

So neighbourhoods will just rally around and get 5 people to complain?

Exactly, and that being the case, the Police will 'have' to investigate all the complaints, I only hope that in that case, the people who complained and are found to have accused someone falsely get the book thrown at them for doing so.
Like the interfering busybodies I have as some neighbours who moan at us all the time simply because we are Students and they don't like Students and also have a Staffie dog, which they don't like either, at the house.

People are going to have to be really careful not to upset their neighbours for fear of near witchhunts following doing so.

What an admiistrative likely chaos for the Police too though.That is what I find very suspect as to this idea.

[Marc]

Bit of a strain on the police but I guess that's what they are there for

You can't exactly argue that trouble teenagers aren't a problem in today's society. They're really intimidating

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by Marc

Bit of a strain on the police but I guess that's what they are there for

You can't exactly argue that trouble teenagers aren't a problem in today's society. They're really intimidating

I completely agree where there are genuine troublemakers and anti social problems that needs to be dealt with however,I don't agree it is always the Police who should have to deal with everything seen as anti social, they are there to maintain the peace yes,not though to be dealing with things that are 'not' of a criminal nature which they will now have to do much moreso than before under these likely proposals.

A daft instance for sure this is I now make but never-the-less a possible one, you have neighbours who don't get on with you, you dump some bulky rubbish maybe in bags maybe not in your front garden until you can get it taken away, under these proposals,5 neighbours only need to complain at that and the Police will 'have' to come and investigate.
That is a simple local issue and as kizzy says particularly in social housing a matter better dealt with by councils.

How many far more serious crimes will be being committed while the Police are chasing round on prejudiced neighbours whims dealing with this nonsense.
Of course if you have neighbours and people being intimidated by teens or anyone else for that matter,as it's certainly not just young people who do the intimidating,then the Police need to deal with that obviously and the penalties should be stiffer than being awarded an ASBO.

2 Police officers came to investigate my dog 'barking' as someone passed our own garden,not theirs,what a massive waste of time.
That will though under these proposals get far more likely to happen in the future.