Anti-social behaviour order

Report: 10
Date: 14 June 2001
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report details the current position on the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) as prescribed by Section 1 Crime and Disorder Act, 1998. The report includes:

• details of the legislation;
• report on MPS activity, both at corporate and borough level, to promote and use ASBOs; and to use other initiatives to combat anti-social behaviour;
• factors affecting the use of ASBOs;
• statistical information regarding use of ASBOs in the MPS area.

A. Recommendation

Authority Members are asked to note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) was one expression of a political will to impact on anti-social behaviour. During the passage of the Housing Act 1996, which gave local authorities some powers to deal with this sort of behaviour, the then Labour opposition unsuccessfully proposed a new 'community safety order'. Many of the aspects of community safety orders can now be seen in ASBOs.

Legislation

2. ASBOs came into force on 1 April 1999 as section 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act, 1998. An ASBO is an order against an individual who acts in an anti-social manner, which is referred to in the legislation as behaviour 'that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as himself'. ASBOs are applied for at a Magistrate's Court acting in its civil capacity.

3. The minimum duration of an order is two years, regardless of the age of the individual concerned. The maximum term is not specified. An ASBO is a preventive measure intended to deal with persistent and serious anti-social behaviour. It is aimed at preventing escalation of this behaviour without recourse to criminal sanctions. The prohibitions contained within the order will be those that are necessary to protect the public in that area from further anti-social acts by the defendant. An ASBO must be specific about the behaviour, the location and the individual. It cannot be a general 'catch-all'.

4. Breaching an ASBO is a serious offence. It is an arrestable offence (Section 24 (1)(b) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984), triable either way, with a maximum penalty on indictment of five years in prison and a £5000 fine. Whilst the ASBO itself is a civil preventative process, breaching such an order is a criminal offence with potentially serious consequences for the person subject to it. The legislation is reproduced in full - see Appendix 1.

Police actions

5. Corporate action
The MPS began planning for ASBOs from the implementation of the Crime and Disorder Act at the end of 1998. A Special Police Notice was issued in May 1999 by the Public Order Policy Unit (CO11) including MPS policy on ASBOs and guidance to boroughs. Special Notice 10/99 is included - see Appendix 2.

6. Officers from CO11 have been available to boroughs as 'experts' on ASBOs. These officers have met borough officers and their local authority partners in meetings, seminars and presentations to give advice and promote appropriate use. Both CO11 and MPS solicitors have advised borough officers on preparing local protocols on obtaining ASBOs.

7. CO11 have constructed a specific intranet web site (web site page at Appendix 3) on ASBOs. The web site contains:

• Special notice 10/99
• The Home Office guide to writing a police/local authority protocol
• Flow chart on obtaining an ASBO
• Details of police officers and a dedicated point of contact in the Directorate of Legal Services to give help and guidance

8. The Directorate of Legal Services has three solicitors dedicated to the work generated by the Crime and Disorder Act including ASBOs and sex offender orders.

9. Borough police action
London borough police are carrying out a number of valuable initiatives in relation to ASBOs. Some of these initiatives are described in the following paragraphs. Statistical information regarding use of ASBOs - see Appendix 4.

The latest figures to be released by the Home Office (Dec 2000) is that 177 ASBOs have been granted in England and Wales since their inception. Examples of their use in England and Wales include:

• 32 granted in the MPS area
• 14 granted in the Greater Manchester area
• 11 granted in Liverpool
• 3 granted in Southampton
• 20 Granted in Birmingham
• None granted in Cardiff

Factors affecting the use of ASBOs

10. Working in partnership
Work on ASBOs and other requirements brought about by the introduction of the Crime and Disorder Act has led to a rapid escalation of work in partnership between police and local authorities. The application and granting of an ASBO is seen by many as a last resort and in some ways even as a failure. Magistrates may require every method of mediation and diversion of an individual away from their anti-social behaviour to have been tried before an order will be granted. So the granting of an order means, generally, that every other means has been tried and failed.

11. Work by both partners in diverting people away from anti-social behaviour has meant that it has only been necessary to obtain 32 ASBOs across the MPS area over the last 2 years. The success of ASBOs is better measured by the reduction of disorder than by the number of ASBOs obtained.

12. One of the major achievements of the work on ASBOs has been the obligation and need to work in partnership. What cannot be measured is the number of multi-agency meetings where the application for an ASBO has been reserved as a final recourse for a person being required to amend their behaviour or co-operate with a diversion. We are aware of no instances of MPS officers failing to co-operate with local authority partners in applying for an ASBO. Quite the contrary, there is considerable evidence of excellent partnership working. Tentative early partnerships are maturing into collaborations with trust and understanding. This is facilitating work on initiatives contained in paragraph 15 below.

13. Anti-social behaviour
ASBOs were created to deal with anti-social behaviour. This type of behaviour, also described as sub-criminal behaviour, had previously fallen into a gap between lawful and criminal behaviour and was not tackled effectively by police or others. Anti-social behaviour ranges from lawful nuisance through to serious crimes. Police have always dealt with, and will always deal with, the criminal aspect of anti-social behaviour but it is not surprising that local authorities have taken the lead in applying for ASBOs. Local authorities are able to identify behaviour and initiate proceedings before it becomes criminal and comes to the attention of police.

14. Other tools available to combat anti-social behaviour
Both police and local authorities have a range of measures open to them to combat anti-social behaviour. Many of these initiatives are documented in Policy Action Team (PAT) 8's work on anti-social behaviour as part of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy.

15. Tools available to police to deal with anti-social behaviour include:

• Prosecution and other formal disposals
• Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC), used by 18 BOCUs, many of the remaining BOCUs will be using them
• Mediation schemes
• Diversion schemes
• Youth Offending Teams
• Warning letters
• Joint patrols with youth outreach workers
• Multi-agency case conferences
• Southwark police youth scheme ('smart card')
• Truancy initiatives
• Schools involvement and education
• Anti-social behaviour units
• Police officers working in local authority buildings and local authority officers working in police stations eg: Islington
• and many others

16. Costs, Proportionality, and Courts' perceptions
It was expected at the time of the introduction of ASBOs that they would be quick, cheap and easy to obtain. In reality they have been the opposite. The two successful applications that have been led by the MPS have taken over six months to obtain and have consumed many hours of both police and police solicitors' time. A detective sergeant involved in one application stated that she had spent more time on the ASBO application than she normally spent on a very serious criminal investigation. Officers have estimated that the cost of obtaining this ASBO was in excess of £100,000. A breakdown of example costs - see Appendix 5.

17. Police officers have expressed concern that ASBOs represent 'a hammer to crack a nut'. Where the anti social behaviour is serious and crimes are committed the offenders are usually dealt with for these crimes. Where the anti-social behaviour is sub-criminal the penalties invoked for breaching an ASBO are perceived as draconian.

18. Solicitors advise that in their experience of police-led applications, magistrates' perceptions are that the police bringing proceedings mean that the proceedings are criminal rather than civil. Local authority solicitors have not experienced significant problems in this way. Accordingly local authorities generally agree that only where the vast majority of evidence and intelligence is 'police led' should police apply for the ASBO. Local authorities apply for most ASBOs with the assistance of police.

19. All the above are factors tending to depress the number of police-led ASBO applications.

20. Effectiveness of ASBOs
Bearing in mind costs involved in obtaining an ASBO, outlined above, the sentences handed out by courts resulting from breaches do not always reflect the seriousness of the order. Examples of sentences from breaches include one person being sentenced to a £50 fine and another being given a conditional discharge. For further details - see Appendix 4. It is not surprising that other methods of dealing with anti-social behaviour are often investigated before turning to the application of an ASBO.

C. Financial implications

The nature of ASBO applications, the diverseness of those made subject of them, and the differences between the authorities applying for them, mean that no 'standard cost' of an ASBO application can be given.

D. Background papers

None.

E. Contact details

The author of this report is Stuart Palmer, Inspector, MPS Public Order OCU, MPS.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendices

Appendices 2 and 3 are available from the MPA

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