MANCHESTER: ASBOS NOT WORKING

A senior police officer will today call for a reduction in the number of antisocial behaviour orders issued after his survey of 21 Asbo offenders raised doubts about their effectiveness.

Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Wain, head of the Stockport division of Greater Manchester police, said the orders were breached on a regular basis and did not seem to control behaviour. In his book on the issue - The Asbo: Wrong Turning, Dead End - Mr Wain claims that Asbos might even encourage crime: "One of my concerns is the possibility that Asbos may lead to a longer criminal career," he says.

Mr Wain is one of the most senior police figures to criticise Asbos since they were introduced in 2003. He said he was preparing himself for, "accusations of being weak-kneed and liberal and not representing the police force".

A senior police officer in Britain’s “Asbo capital” will raise doubts today about the effectiveness of the orders which are the centrepiece of the government’s Respect programme against antisocial behaviour.

Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Wain, head of the Stockport division of Greater Manchester police, will call for a pause in the relentless increase of the often draconian orders, while researchers test growing evidence that they may be more of a political stunt than an effective tool.

[…]

“As a serving police officer I have had considerable experience of the use of Asbos and what struck me was not only did they get breached on a regular basis, they also did not appear to be controlling the behaviour of those subject to them.”

[…]

“This [the false impression that ASBOs were working and the lack of pursuing other remedies] was strikingly born out when we interviewed people with Asbos,” he said. “There were cases where they were excluded from areas where at the same time they were expected to work as part of sorting out a normal, useful life. One of them had an exclusion zone which prevented him visiting his mother and was imprisoned when he went to see her. As he said to us, understandably: ‘If it was your mother, what would you have done?’ “

CommunityCare.co.uk has this:

“As a serving police officer I have experience of the use of these orders and over time I have become concerned about their increased use, their long-term effects and the conditions imposed under them,�? said Wain. “One of my concerns is the possibility that Asbos may lead to a longer criminal career.�?

The book, The ASBO – Wrong Turning Dead End, also presents the views of Asbo offenders. Wain explored the Asbos’ effects for his Masters in applied criminology at Cambridge University.

Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Many individuals receiving orders, particularly children, are confused by the variety of conditions that can be attached to an Asbo. These can cover anything from avoiding groups of three or more people to saying certain words in public. As a result, breaches are common and many end up in prison, where the chances of reoffending on release increase dramatically.�?

http://notesandcomments.com/ideas/2007/09/10/asbos-increase-crime/