Going in guns blazing is not the way to clean up this town

At one end of town them pesky varmints are raising hell while the town folks gather anxiously on the sidewalks. “The sheriff ain’t never available when you need him,” they say. Then through the dust a lone black figure in a tailcoat rides into town. His craggy jaw leading the way, he strides purposefully towards the hoodlums. The town goes quiet – the varmints just aren’t afraid. But this ain’t no ordinary sheriff packing a six gun.

This man is unbeatable. His hand moves faster than a snake’s tongue – and the dreaded antisocial behaviour order is served. Suddenly, peace returns to the city.

The varmints are defeated. The Sheriff marries the prettiest girl in town … whoops, did I get a bit carried away there?

Let me start with a confession that I am sure is obvious to many of you from the sarcasm of my tone. Yes, I am an old-fashioned liberal Guardian reader with a conscience. However, for more than 20 years I have represented inner-city areas of Liverpool, where bad behaviour has been an increasing nuisance. I was responsible for establishing one of the first antisocial behaviour units to serve ASBOs, but I strongly believe ASBOs must be a last resort, not a first option.

They are bad medicine because they deal with the symptom and not the cause.

For the past 12 months Liberal Democrat candidates have been vilified by our opponents at local and parliamentary elections because our MPs voted against parts of the last piece of antisocial behaviour legislation. Those candidates argued, as I do, that bad behaviour has many causes and so needs many solutions. Some people commit no offence apart from being young. The mere sight of a group of them hanging around (as we all did at their age) merits bringing in enforcement agencies in the view of some.

Some people just don’t know how to behave. If you come from a dysfunctional family where you have not been shown by example how to behave, then it’s likely you will not behave well. Some people are placed in society when they just cannot cope with its pressures. Our care of people with mental illness, so-called care in the community, is very poor in most parts of the country.

They do silly things for no fault of their own.

The last category – the smallest – is the one where ASBOs and all the other punitive measures should be used. There are a small number of people who seem to exist outside the norms of society. They respect no one and can terrorise whole neighbourhoods by their aggressive, vengeful behaviour.

If there are many causes of antisocial behaviour, there must be many solutions. Some people need to be educated; some need greater support to live in the modern world. I am often struck by how little contact there is in many cases between children and older people because the nuclear family has broken up. Many agencies must also be involved. Our unit in Liverpool has staff seconded from 14 different organisations with a core of staff from the council and the police. They look at each case and decide what will get the best result for perpetrators and victims. It may involve a social worker or separating a family. Doing the analysis is what enables the right action to be taken.

I am arguing for this approach because it works. By not immediately slapping an ASBO on people in Liverpool we’re able to spread ourselves more widely and deal with all levels of antisocial behaviour. Home Office figures released before Christmas show the city dealt with more nuisance cases in 2003/4 than Manchester and Birmingham combined.

I mention this because I recently heard minister of state for the Home Office Hazel Blears explaining, as part of Labour’s election package, a range of actions to deal with bad behaviour, including looking at the social and educational problems of the people that cause it. Well done Hazel, welcome to the real world. Any chance of an apology to all those people vilified by your party for saying the same thing.