Stockton North MP, Alex Cunningham, has urged the Government not to scrap the ASBO and has called for faster action to help tackle anti-social behaviour.
A detailed breakdown, obtained by Freedom of Information Requests from Shadow Home Office Minister Gloria De Piero and research by statisticians from the House of Commons Library, has revealed new figures which show that in the Stockton-on-Tees local authority area there were 9,383 anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police in 2012. This means that, on average, there were 49 anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 people.
The figures also paint a revealing picture of the scale of the anti-social behaviour problem at a police force wide level. Cleveland Police recorded 31,107 incidents of anti-social behaviour in 2012, which means on average there were 55.8 incidents of anti-social behaviour per 1,000 people.
Alex said:
“Anti-social behaviour is a serious problem and Cleveland Police has one of the highest rates per resident in the country to deal with. The Government’s official crime survey has revealed that more than eight out of ten people believe anti-social behaviour has risen in England and Wales in the last 12 months, while nearly a third said that they had personally been a victim of yobbish behaviour or had witnessed an event.
“The Government is turning the clock back with their plans to scrap the ASBO and replace it with a weaker power which carries no criminal sanction for a breach. The Government’s community trigger, which demands a response if a person has complained three times just isn’t good enough. People have the right to expect action right away and help to tackle an issue which is a huge worry.
“I know how hard the local Police and Council work with other partners in our area to deal with anti-social behaviour, but if the Government strips away the sanctions imposed on troublemakers, their job can only be that much tougher to do their best for residents who just want to live in peace.”
