23
May
2012
By Calvin at 12:29 GMT, 14 years ago
Or as the SUN puts it – ‘Goodbye ASBOs...welcome back loud sex’
Home Secretary Theresa May announced yesterday that the Government were going to replace the previous Government’s Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) with new measures to tackle antisocial behaviour in England and Wales. Theresa May is suggesting that these new measures will be simpler and more flexible than the current powers for tackling the problems. One of the interesting features included in The Government’s White Paper includes measures that will require the police (and other agencies) to investigate any incident reported by at least five people, or any three separate complaints by the same person, something being branded as a ‘community trigger’.
The white paper introduces a new Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) to ban an individual from particular activities or locations and a ‘civil’ Crime Prevention Injunction (CPI) to give agencies immediate powers to protect victims and communities by stopping bad behaviour before it gets out of hand. The lower standard of proof for civil orders means that a CPI can be obtained in days or even hours. Police will also be given new powers to order someone who has committed, or is likely to commit antisocial behaviour to leave an area and not return for up to 48 hours.
If you have a spare day you can read the full details about these new measures at this link to the Government’s White Paper, Putting victims first – More effective responses to anti-social behaviour.
The new measures are not without their critics. Katherine Quarmby, a campaigner against disability hate crime and writing in the Guardian makes some interesting points, which are definately worth a read and although Victim Support have welcomed the Government's commitment to ensure that victims will help to shape how the problem is tackled, the charity has also expressed some serious concerns about the proposals, and has urged the Government to meet its commitment of placing victims at the heart of new laws.
Javed Khan, Chief Executive of Victim Support said: “We welcome steps to put victims at the heart of plans to tackle anti social behaviour. Victim Support knows from working with one million victims a year that this so called ‘low level’ crime blights lives and shatters communities. “However, victims deserve to be taken seriously as soon as they make a report to the police. Waiting until a similar incident has been reported three times or by five people is not good enough.
We hope that the new the Criminal Behaviour Order will deliver the rapid response for victims that is needed. But just dishing out the orders won’t be enough. If the Government really wants to put victims first tough enforcement and follow up will be required, to avoid making the CBO an empty sanction. Furthermore, government plans to change funding arrangements may mean that some antisocial behaviour victims get no help or support at all in the future. We urge the Government to guarantee that all victims of crime get the help and support they need to move on with their lives.”
It will be interesting to see if this new approach will improve on ASBOs, especially against the background of police budget cuts of 20%. Equally, it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out in a practical sense and if complainants about antisocial behaviour will be willing to provide written witness statements and attend court. Let’s hope so.
