People across the borough agree we are facing a crisis in anti-social behaviour. While it is good to hear Neil Coyle MP call for new ‘respect orders’ to be trialled in Southwark, this must be backed up by an increase in police numbers.
‘Respect orders’, which have been compared to the defunct Asbo, could see police and councils apply to ban persistent offenders from loitering and drinking in town centres and high streets under the new powers.
It is no secret that Southwark, South London and the UK as a whole, are struggling with a wave of petty crime and public disorder. But the fact that local resident-led groups are springing up to tackle it – Action on ASB in Brixton and Burgess Park Put A Stop To Crime in Walworth – shows there is little faith that police have got a handle on it.
Something police must do is, surely, get more and better-trained officers on the street. The Met Police’s recruitment crisis is no secret, with potential new starters thought to be put off by the organisation’s various scandals in recent years. There is also the problem that large-scale protests draw safer neighbourhood officers away from their beats.
‘Respect Orders’ could prove a useful tool for police and local authorities. But without more eyes and ears on the street, the antisocial behaviour problem is here to stay.
