Standing Up to Anti-Social Behaviour
Nick with members of Newcastle's emergency services
At Nick’s constituency surgeries at the weekends, one issue that is raised over and over again is Anti Social Behaviour. When people are causing trouble in their area it has the potential to make the lives of the majority of law-abiding citizens a misery. People in East Newcastle rightly want to live in neighbourhoods free from unnecessary noise, intimidation and harassment.
It is for this reason that Labour introduced Anti Social Behaviour Orders in 1998. The latest statistics bear out the effects this policy can have. 65% of people issued with an ASBO desisted from further anti-social behaviour after the first intervention, 86% after the second and 93% after the third. It’s clear that ASBOs can make a difference.
The Government has worked hard to tackle wider criminal activity. Since 1997 overall crime has fallen 36%, and domestic burglary is down 54%. Car theft has fallen by over 50%, and household crime is down 36%. Despite the “Broken Britain” rhetoric of some, you are now less likely to be a victim of crime than at any time in the past 25 years.
This is thanks to a police force that is respected and well resourced. Labour has invested more than £3.7bn in policing, putting an extra 16,000 police officers on our streets, alongside 16 000 further Community Support Officers. This is the first Government since the 1940s to see an overall fall in crime. All these measures will contribute to people feeling safer going about their day to day lives in our city.