ASBOs face further police criticism

A Greater Manchester police officer has questioned the effectiveness of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), claiming they could create crime rather than reduce it.

Chief Superintendent Neil Wain claims offenders with ASBOs are given little support to stop them offending and has become “increasingly concerned that they are not controlling the behaviour of those subject to them”.

His views are expressed in a book he has written as part of his masters degree in criminology.

Chief Supt Wain, divisional commander for Stockport, also highlights how ASBO conditions can ban people from contact with friends or entering certain areas leaving them isolated and more likely to offend.

He said youngsters who are given ASBOS suffer from being named and shamed and instead should get more help to stop their offending.

“The orders can actually criminalise young people who could be helped in other ways,” he said. “In particular, I am worried about wide-ranging conditions, which are often breached and that lead to imprisonment.”

He said there has been a shift away from the original intention of ASBOs – to address the behaviour of individuals who committed repeated offences of a minor nature in a particular neighbourhood. “They are now more likely to be used as crime control measures by police and relevant authorities, against burglars, car thieves and street robbers,” he said.

He added that ASBOs are also used to control prostitutes, the suicidal, the homeless and mentally disturbed people. “These are categories of people that have seen some level of decriminalisation over recent years but now, due to a breach of conditions, can become subject of a criminal conviction,” said Chief Supt Wain.

“Around 50 per cent of ASBOs are breached, with around 46 per cent of those ending up in custody,” he added. “Eighty one per cent of the offenders I interviewed said the orders would do nothing to prevent them from committing more crime.”

He added that conditions such as banning people from certain locations or effectively making young people homeless by banning them from their family’s estate, are almost “inviting breaches”.

“I’m not saying that ASBOs should be scrapped,” said Chief Supt Wain. “The purpose of my book is to question whether we are using ASBOs too frequently, or before other measures that tackle anti-social behaviour have been used first.”

He is calling for a much more “balanced, tiered approach”.

“I`m not advocating any sort of soft approach. Under the right circumstances, it is right to use these orders.

“Maybe we should examine issues around the orders, conditions and the amount of support and different routes we take before we get there.”

His research is based on 22 interviews with people who have received ASBOs.

Manchester City Council has handed out more ASBOs than any other local authority in the UK.

As of June this year, there were 1,259 active ASBOs in the Greater Manchester Police area, and a total of 9,853 issued in England and Wales, according to Home Office figures.

Greater Manchester Police said these were Chief Supt Wain’s personal views.

In one case, I was informed of a young man who was banned from associating in public with three or more individuals. That wasn’t three or more fellow offenders – that was three or more people full stop. The young man was eventually breached for playing five-a-side football. Playing that game – a healthy, constructive, inoffensive activity – saw him sent to prison for breaching his order.

Another 20-year-old I interviewed was languishing in jail for visiting his sick mother. She had called him and asked for his help one day and, despite the fact he was banned from her estate, the young man answered that call and got a taxi to be with her. He said to me, “what would you have done if it was your mother?” Perhaps, with the benefits of education, I would have thought to rung the authorities first to see if I could arrange a visit