ANTISOCIAL behaviour came under the spotlight at Alton Town Council's annual electors' meeting this month. A presentation by East Hampshire District Council's community safety partnership officer Sally-Anne Edson triggered a lively debate over the emotive issues of vandalism and unacceptable behaviour in public places. But while it obviously is an issue in Alton, it was not all bad news. To put people's concerns into perspective, local Sergeant Ian Dugdale said that, in his opinion, Alton was lucky because it did not have a massive antisocial behaviour problem and that the few culprits who did behave badly were known to the police. "We know who they are and where the hotspots are," he said. In her talk, Ms Edson explained the work of the community safety partnership in seeking to address the problems of antisocial behaviour. As the name implies, the partnership works with agencies such as the Police, the youth offending team, social services and East Hampshire District Council to try to ensure that each case is handled in the best way possible. Anyone caught behaving in an antisocial manner - adults as well as juveniles - will normally receive an initial warning letter. If the behaviour doesn't stop, this will be followed by an acceptable behaviour contract - a voluntary, confidential document designed for the individual and instructing them to take responsibility for their own behaviour by agreeing to follow a set of rules and, for example, to attend mediation, mentoring, counselling and/or parenting courses. If the contract is not signed or adhered to, the offender may be subject to an antisocial behaviour order which can either "stand alone" or, more often, take the form of a post- conviction order. An antisocial behaviour order, according to Ms Edson, is a civil order which, if breached, generally results in immediate imprisonment. Conscious of the impact antisocial behaviour can have, the CSP also offers support to victims and meets on a monthly basis with partner agencies to update the list of offenders and discuss the current issues. The message which came across clearly from Ms Edson and from the two local police officers present - Sgt Dugdale and Pc Simon Deer - was that key to tackling antisocial behaviour was the need for members of the public to report incidents, to include the time and date and, where possible, the name of the perpetrator. "People tend to expect us to have a crystal ball, but we don't - we need people to report incidents. If it is a criminal offence then you should call the police and if it is in a social housing area, the incident should be reported to the landlord," said Ms Edson. She also pointed out that while the use of bad language, smoking and drinking in a public place may be offensive, if the perpetrator is over the age of 18 then it may not be an offence. To clarify the matter further, Sgt Dugdale confirmed that the police do have the power to remove alcohol from anyone caught drinking under the age of 18 and cigarettes from those under 16. They will also use the system of warning letters and contracts for those behaving badly. But, he stressed, while the police do patrol the town and are aware where the trouble hotspots tend to be, they cannot be in two places at the same time and need the public to be their eyes and ears and to alert them to problems when they occur. A group of residents from Victoria Road expressed concerns about graffiti attacks in the area which have cost local people time and expense in cleaning up the affected areas. "I just hope you catch them before we do," said one disgruntled resident. While assuring that the police are keeping files on every reported graffiti incident in the town, Sgt Dugdale said that they were aware of two to three regular offenders but that, once again, they needed people to report incidents promptly and to try to obtain names and addresses to enable them to prosecute. And, he added, residents can make a citizen's arrest and detain the offender until the police arrive. He also said that the police do carry out plain clothes patrols to help in their investigations. John Smith drew attention to the trouble being caused by a small number of young people at Alton Community Centre which was having a detrimental effect on the enjoyment of users. Pc Deer assured the meeting that the police had made arrests at the centre and had put on extra patrols to deal with the problems by providing a visible presence in the area. He was disappointed that the centre had decided to cancel some of its activities because of the problems rather than ride the storm and hoped that things would get back to normal soon. The sentiment was echoed by Ms Edson who said that the youth service was keen to work with the young troublemakers as part of the station project based at Alton Community Centre. Another question arose on the subject of prosecution following arrest. Pc Deer explained that, especially in the case of juveniles, the Crown Prosecution Service would look at the evidence and at the age of the child and would weigh up whether it would be in his or her best interest to prosecute. Sgt Dugdale also reminded those present that young people have always got themselves into trouble (years ago it might have been scrumping for apples), "but that doesn't mean they are criminals," he said. And that was the reason for the antisocial behaviour system. He told the meeting that after the first warning a very large percentage of young people do not offend again. And he added: "People deserve a chance." In post since November, Ms Edson said that since then the CSP had been working closely with the police, the youth service and both Amery and Eggars schools to deal with juvenile nuisance in the town. But she stressed: "Different people have different levels of tolerance as to what unacceptable behaviour is." Furthermore, in her experience, young people were very often unaware of the fact that when in groups they can appear intimidating, especially to elderly folk. Pam Jones, herself a teacher, was keen to emphasise that not all young people in Alton spent their time causing trouble. In believing that education was the key, she suggested that the CSP should be targeting primary school children. There was common ground however - without a doubt the swell of opinion at the meeting appeared in favour of Ms Edson's observation that, at the end of the day, the onus for their children's behaviour should be firmly on the parents.
