Court orders 'Badge of Shame not Badge of Honour'
There has been a robust response from the local authorities over recent press criticism of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). It has been claimed in a report by the Youth Justice Board that youths who are subject to the see them as a badge of honour.
However, Ealing Council and the borough’s police force have vowed to keep on getting anti-social teenage yobs who terrorise residents served with Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). They are promising to haul youngsters who run riot into court so magistrates can issue these orders. If they breach their ASBO they will quickly be sent back to court to be punished.
Councillor Sue Emment, cabinet member for safer communities, said: “ASBOs are certainly not a badge of honour and if you get one in our borough you should be ashamed of yourself. They are not an award or glamorous, despite what one or two youths said in the survey. If you get an ASBO here, you’re in our ‘Hall of Shame’."
There are currently 29 people with ASBOs in the borough – 15 of which are teenagers. Altogether, 39 orders have been issued.
Pc Stuart McNair, Ealing Police’s anti-social behaviour coordinator, said: “We strongly believe that ASBOs have a positive impact on the behaviour of those who are seen to constantly cause misery to certain areas and communities within the borough. They are a valuable tool in our fight to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and act as a deterrent to those who are actively involved with such activity that it will not be tolerated."
He added that early intervention combined with effective diversion tactics had led to the number of breaches of ASBOs in the borough being below the national average. There have been only 12 breaches of the 39 ASBOs issued since 2004.
November 4, 2006
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