"Prevention and Cure" needed for Anti Social Behaviour (Swindon Liberal Democrats)

Swindon Liberal Democrats <info@swindonlibdems.org>

"Prevention and Cure" needed for Anti Social Behaviour

November 10, 2004 12:00 AM

Dr Sue Stebbing points at grafitti on wall

Dr Sue Stebbing, Parliamentary Spokesperson for Swindon South, talks about the Liberal Democrats' approach to tackling anti-social behaviour (ASBO).

Sue Stebbing commented:

" Like every other town, Swindon needs to find ways of encouraging people to be considerate towards their neighbours, as well as cracking down on the minority who just don't care about other people.

"One way Liberal Democrats want to do this is by introducing an ASBO-plus that would not only punish offenders but would also help them to find ways of behaving differently in the future, perhaps by offering mediation, advice on debt management, drug rehabilitation, or education."

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders were introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Liberal Democrats did not oppose them and continue to believe that in serious cases they are a useful tool. However, we believe an ASBO should always be combined with interventions to tackle underlying causes, such as drug and alcohol treatment or mediation for neighbour disputes. We are encouraged to see that the government is moving in this direction. We continue to believe that Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs), developed by Liberal Democrats in Islington, are a more constructive first response to anti-social behaviour, and that ABCs should be tried first before an ASBO is considered.

Dr Stebbing continued:

"Swindon Liberal Democrats have a good track record on tackling anti-social behaviour. For example, three years ago, when Cllr Stan Pajak was mayor, he championed a £100 fine for people who spit chewing gum onto the streets.

"Locally, Lib Dems also wanted to combat the scourge of graffiti in the town by making those found guilty clean it up, although Labour & Tory Councillors scorned this proposal. More recently Lib Dems have proposed ways of combating fly posting in the town and will soon be presenting a motion to Council on reducing the nuisance caused by prostitution in residential areas. "

Dispersal orders (introduced in the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill 2003) allow the police to move people on if "a constable in uniform has reasonable grounds for believing that the presence or behaviour of a group of two or more persons in any public place in the relevant locality has resulted, or is likely to result, in any members of the public being intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed". It is already an offence (under the Public Order Act 1986) to behave in public in a way, which might cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The major change in the 2003 Act is therefore (a) to allow the police to disperse people who are behaving in an anti-social manner, and (b) to do so where the mere presence (rather than the actions) of those individuals may be considered to be anti-social.

Liberal Democrats central objection to the powers was and remains the suggestion that someone can be subject to police intervention and arrest purely on the basis of their presence. This breaches the fundamental right to freedom of movement and assembly, and in theory the power could be abused by the police, for example to harass ethnic minorities. In practice the police have focused on cases where behaviour is the cause for concern, and some forces have found ways to use the powers constructively and as part of a package of measures tackling causes as well as symptoms.