The Government has introduced new ASBO-style powers to help the Met Police tackle anti-social behaviour in crime-blighted London neighbourhoods. The Home Office confirmed the new Respect Orders, introduced on Monday, will allow offenders to be hit with tougher restrictions such as curfews and town centre bans.
Offenders could face unlimited fines and tough community punishments, including hours of volunteering. For the first time, courts will also be able to order prolific perpetrators into rehab programmes if their offending is linked to drug and alcohol use, or impose anger management classes.
Respect Orders vs ASBOs
The new Respect Orders can only be issued to adult criminals, while the previous Anti-social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), introduced by Sir Tony Blair's Labour government in 1998 and scrapped in 2014 following legal challenges, could be enforced on those aged ten and up.
Policing Minister Sarah Jones, during a visit to Southall, told the Standard: “ASBOs and some of the orders that replace them do different things. Basically, Respect Orders bring all of those options together. So ASBOs were quite good on the punishment side. Some of the orders are quite good on the treatment side. This is bringing them together, and there's a broad definition of what you can use them for.”
How the orders will work
Respect Orders will be uploaded to the Police National Computer. If someone is committing anti-social behaviour, officers will be able to check to see if one is in place and arrest them for breaching their conditions.
Police forces, councils, social landlords, Transport for London, the Environment Agency, and the NHS Counter fraud authority are among the organisations that can apply for the new orders.
Superintendent Sean Lynch, who leads neighbourhood policing in Ealing, said Respect Orders “will help immensely” when it comes to tackling anti-social behaviour in London. “Often, our local partners are making applications for injunctions which don't have a power of arrest, so Respect Orders gives us just that,” he told the Standard. “The critical bit for the Respect Order for me is that we come together with our housing providers, council and police, so that we can target those that we know need us the most in terms of enforcement activity.”
Home Secretary's statement
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Unchecked, anti-social behaviour blights our communities. But it is not inevitable and I won't accept it. For too long, we have lacked the powers we need to deal with this problem properly. From today, that changes: authorities will be able to take tough action against these offenders. This delivers on a commitment we made to the British people in our manifesto. And, most importantly, those who make life a misery for others will now face the consequences of their actions.”
