Public 'miserable' amid antisocial behaviour neglect

Thursday, 11 March 2010 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

Police watchdog Denis O'Connor has called on the government to do more to address antisocial behaviour, after it emerged one in four complaints are ignored by police.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has raised the concerns about the 3.6 million reports of antisocial behaviour made each year, compared to the 4.6 million crimes committed.

It argues that the public struggle to see the difference between the two, but a quarter of complaints made by the public about antisocial behaviour are ignored by police.

"The police database of information about antisocial behaviour incidents is inadequate and should be improved as a matter of urgency. An awful lot of police forces have real problems," the Times quoted him as saying.

"It is like going back to the doctor's surgery but you see a different doctor every time. We want everybody to take this issue seriously. It undermines confidence in the police.

"We are a long way from a police officer on his way to a report of ASB being told that it was the eighth time police had been called."

Over half of the police forces in England and Wales are unable to automatically identify repeat victims, meaning officers are failing to identify major problem areas.

Home secretary Alan Johnson recently admitted the government is "coasting" on antisocial behaviour.

His Conservative counterpart, Chris Grayling, commented: "This report is absolutely right in saying that it is not getting the attention it needs but that won't change unless we get rid of Labour's culture of bureaucracy of policing and get police officers back to policing our streets instead of filling in endless forms."

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• domestic policy
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