Antisocial behaviour
covers a range of issues including substance misuse, drunken, rowdy
and nuisance behaviour, begging, hate incidents, noise nuisance,
animal related problems, vehicle related nuisance, hoax calls and
malicious communication and prostitution related activity. Not all
antisocial behaviour is required to be addressed by the police,
many incidents are the responsibility of local authorities and
other agencies. We look forward to gaining a better understanding
of the nature and extent of antisocial behaviour across Dorset and
are exploring opportunities with partner agencies and communities
to further impact upon these problems in 2006/07. From our incident
analysis and community safety survey, anti-social behaviour and
disorder is a high concern in both urban and rural communities.
Recorded figures for anti-social behaviour currently show a 24%
increase for 2005/06. Our community safety survey indicated that
such incidents are significantly under- reported as 54% of
respondents experiencing harassment by strangers did not report the
incident; neither did 40% of those who had property vandalised.
Vandalism, unruly youths, drunkenness and associated bad behaviour
seriously impact upon the quality of life of individuals and
communities.
Community cohesion is further damaged by incidents of racial and
minority group abuse. Our town communities suffer youth disorder
during the evenings, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays.
Alcohol-related disorder occurs outside some of our pubs and clubs
and in town centres generally. In the rural environments youth and
alcohol-related disorder is more sporadic but equally troubling to
communities. Initiatives to tackle alcohol-related crime and
disorder includes inputs by School Liaison Officers and partnership
working with Trading Standards around test purchase operations as
part of our prevention, early intervention and enforcement
programme. The Force will refresh its Anti-social Behaviour
Tactical Plan to ensure it fully incorporates the TOGETHER
Campaign, and the measures set out in the Anti-social Behaviour Act
2003 and the Government’s Respect Agenda which identifies poor
parenting as one of the root causes of antisocial behaviour and has
set out a wide ranging programme to clampdown on antisocial
behaviour tackling causes at home, in the classroom and in the
local community and to address the wider culture of disrespect in
society. In addition there will be enhanced policing of anti-social
behaviour hotspots and effective use of Police Community Support
officers (PCSOs) and other
measures such as Anti-social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), Anti-social
Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) and Fixed Penalty
Notices (FPNs) to
deal swiftly with anti-social behaviour. An Accredited Community
Safety Scheme will be further developed to enhance public
reassurance.
The Force is also a committed partner to the Dorset Criminal
Justice Board ensuring consistency in addressing Public Service
Agreement (PSA)
priorities – ‘Bringing offences to justice’, and ‘Building
Confidence in the Criminal Justice System’. In addition, through
Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) the Force will contribute to
the development of a range of initiatives to divert and disengage
youngsters from a lifetime of criminality. With regard to
antisocial behaviour, in 2006/07 we will:
- Reduce people’s concerns about antisocial behaviour
- Work with Local Authorities and partner agencies to actively
manage the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 and minimise the risk
of alcohol-related antisocial behaviour and disorder With partners,
including the Crown Prosecution Service, target persistent
antisocial behaviour offenders using a range of measures including
Antisocial Behaviour Orders, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and
Fixed Penalty Notices
- Undertake co-ordinated and well-publicised enforcement
campaigns to target alcohol-related crime, antisocial behaviour and
disorder
- Work with partner agencies to promote positive encounters with
young people and encourage the contribution they can make to their
communities.