County Council cabinet members back up police chief comments
Warwickshire County Council’s cabinet members for community protection and children, young people and families have added their voices to a debate on tackling anti-social behaviour.
The Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Denis O’Connor, has commented on a review on how forces tackle anti-social behaviour in England and Wales following a survey of nearly 6,000 people.
Sir Denis voiced fears that anti-social behaviour is often the precursor to more serious crime and that with early intervention, there is no recurrence in many instances. He has raised concerns that Police schemes targeting anti-social behaviour might be at risk of being scaled back and spoke of the dangers to communities of such action.
Councillor Richard Hobbs, portfolio holder for community protection with Warwickshire County Council, agreed that targeting areas of anti-social behaviour is essential to keeping the levels of crime down.
He pointed to the work carried out by the fire and rescue service with young people, working with schools and other agencies to identify anti-social behaviour hot spots and vulnerable youngsters to engage with and provide role models and a positive outlet.
He said: “The county council has always taken its role in the prevention of anti-social behaviour very seriously and, as Sir Denis says, reducing it will take more than simply Police presence.
“For example, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service launched Anti-Social Behaviour Intervention Teams (ASBITs) this year to patrol local hot spot areas. The teams positively engage with young people in an attempt to reduce the occurrence of nuisance small fires and general criminal activity.
“The service also works with vulnerable young people to divert them from an environment in which anti-social behaviour features, engaging them on courses where they benefit from the discipline of a firefighter and from contact with positive role models.
“Constantly, we are looking at where problems may arise and tackling them at an early stage rather than waiting for problems to manifest themselves. PCSOs have made significant progress working with schools in reducing absenteeism. Reported anti-social behaviour is down in Warwickshire.”
Councillor Heather Timms, portfolio holder for children, young people and families, agreed with the multi-faceted targeting and the premise that ’prevention is better than cure’. She said:
“Anti-social behaviour needs certain factors to be in place before it can take hold in communities. So much of our work is aimed at building stronger, closely knit communities.
“Extended services makes activities available for all, irrespective of the family’s financial situation, so young people have a positive diversion even in areas of deprivation which traditionally suffer more from anti-social behaviour.
“By creating a focal point for a community, schools are bringing families together, giving them opportunities to enjoy activities together. Cohesive communities, which are the product of people in localities meeting and sharing an interest, are naturally less likely to suffer from anti-social behaviour.”
Cllr Timms acknowledged that bad behaviour could not always be diverted and expressed the council’s continued commitment to working with young people who have offended or are involved in anti-social behaviour.
She said: “All our services have an important role in identifying and tackling behaviour problems in children before they become serious and there are a range of initiatives aimed at engaging with young people who have offended and steering them away from anti-social or criminal behaviour.”