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Crime and anti-social behaviour in England and Wales: an empirical evaluation of the ASBO's successor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2020

Stavros Demetriou*
Affiliation:
University of Sussex, Sussex, UK
*

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of an empirical study conducted with local enforcement agents in two areas in England regarding the implementation of the anti-social behaviour injunction which succeeded the anti-social behaviour order (ASBO). These findings shed light on the procedure followed by local enforcement agents when dealing with an incident of anti-social behaviour. The data presented suggests that despite the recent legislative amendments, much of the regulation of anti-social behaviour still takes place in the ‘shadows’ with local enforcement agents utilising a range of informal interventions before applying to court for the issue of an injunction. Moreover, it is argued that despite the repeal and replacement of the ASBO by what appears to be a purely civil measure, many of the criticisms raised about the order and its potential misuse remain largely unaddressed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank all of those who participated in the empirical study. The author is also grateful to Heather Keating, Colin King, Tanya Palmer, Tarik Kochi, Mark Walters and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and recommendations on an earlier version of this paper.

References

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27 As far as the CrASBO's successor (ie the Criminal Behaviour Order) is concerned, it is worth noting that this ‘retain[ed] most of the CrASBO's key features’. See Demetriou, above n 21, at 347–348.

28 Brown, above n 2, at 104.

29 As Brown points out, it is ‘debatable’ whether the imposition of this lower threshold will have any significant effect for those agencies applying for the issue of an injunction since ‘statistics have shown courts granting 98 per cent of ASBO applications’. See Brown, above n 13, at 623.

30 Crime and Disorder Act 1998, s 1(1)(b).

31 Whilst ASBOs lasted for a minimum period of two years, under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 there are no minimum or maximum requirements with regard to the duration of the injunction when the respondent is an adult. In the case of a minor, an injunction can last no longer than 12 months. See the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, s 1(3) and the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, s 1(6) respectively.

32 For those between the age of 14 and 17, breach of the injunction issued against them is dealt with in the youth court and can result in the imposition of a detention order. See Home Office Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014: Reform of Anti-Social Behaviour Powers – Statutory Guidance for Frontline Professionals (August 2019) p 26.

33 Crawford et al, above n 16, at 12.

34 ABCs are informal agreements/contracts signed between local enforcement agents and perpetrators as a means of nipping ‘the problem behaviour in the bud before it escalates’. As part of these informal contracts, perpetrators might agree to refrain from doing certain things, such as visiting certain parts of the town, and/or engage with certain service providers, such as attending drug-rehabilitation treatment. Although ‘there are no formal sanctions associated with breaching’ an agreement of this kind, this can clearly be used as evidence in court in order to obtain an injunction against the perpetrator. See Home Office, above n 32, pp 18–19.

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40 Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, s 2(1).

41 This can be partly attributed to the fact that this new injunction was the result of the consolidation of a number of tools and powers into a ‘single multi-purpose’ instrument. See House of Commons Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014: Explanatory Notes (October 2013) para 13; Demetriou, above n 21, at 347.

42 Office for National Statistics Experiences of Anti-social Behaviour by Police Force Area, English Regions and Wales, Year Ending December 2013 CSEW (July 2014).

43 A three-part unique reference code was allocated to each research participant. The first part of this unique code represents a randomly allocated number to each interviewee. The second part reflects the interviewee's occupational background, ie ‘LP’ for local practitioners and ‘PO’ for police officers (including Police Community Support Officers). The final part of this unique identification code refers to the site where the research participant was working at the time the interview was conducted.

44 Although fewer interviews were conducted in Site B, it is important to note that data saturation was achieved.

45 The data presented in this paper do not cover the procedure followed by local enforcement agents after an injunction was breached.

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55 See section 1 above.

56 Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, s 1(3).

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58 Ansbro, above n 51, at 259.

59 It should be noted, though, that this study examined the implementation of the injunction from a practitioner's perspective. Those against whom an injunction was imposed might in fact feel that their behaviour did not cause any of the negative experiences that fall within the ambit of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, Part 1 and that therefore the injunction was used pre-emptively.

60 There is also evidence to suggest that on many occasions local enforcement agents take into consideration various factors when determining whether someone's behaviour should be regarded as anti-social, many of which tend to narrow the scope of the law. See Demetriou, above n 21, at 351–356.

61 For more on the case of Fiona Pilkington see Independent Police Complaints Commission IPCC Report into the Contact between Fiona Pilkington and Leicester Constabulary 2004–2007 (2009).

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