I have been a front-line housing manager for more than 16 years, during which time I have dealt with many hundreds of cases, and I can honestly say that antisocial behaviour orders are having a positive effect.
Aggressive behaviour can be a killer. Unfortunately the people it affects most are normally some of our most vulnerable in society and as such don’t elicit the sympathy and support of our politicians.
To those people who challenge the need for ASBOs, all I would say is tell it to the many thousands of people who are suffering daily in every city, town and village in this country. Tell it to the shop workers who feel physically sick when going to work because they know they will be subjected to verbal abuse, threats and assaults. Tell it to the families of those who have either been killed by yobs or who have taken their own lives because they could take no more.
To every parent in the country, I would ask that at 7.30 each evening they ask themselves, do I really know where my kids are – and do I know what they are doing?
Antisocial behaviour affects everyone and everyone has a role to play in stamping it out.
We are all paying for it – next time you go out shopping count how many security officers there are employed in the shops; next time you purchase a train ticket think how much of that cost is a result of antisocial behaviour.
The same applies to your council tax bill.
What is essential for tackling this is for the courts to take tough action when ASBOs are broken.
Kevin Day, ASBO Solutions
Source
Housing Today
