ALTON residents are being urged to play an active part in helping to reduce anti-social behaviour in the town by reporting any incidents to the police. Even minor incidents may prove a key piece in a case history jigsaw, according to East Hampshire community safety officer Peter Fletcher, who added: "If we don't know, we can't do." Following an address to East Hampshire District Council's north west area community committee last week, CSO Fletcher joined EHDC's anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Laura Brown in answering questions on community safety in the area. With the emphasis firmly on prevention, Ms Brown said her job was to look at ways of "designing out crime", such as the use of CCTV. She also advocated the use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC) - a voluntary agreement signed by the individual concerned and one or more agencies which usually lasts for six months and can be used for children and adults. If breached the contract can be used as evidence in the civil court for the implementation of an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO). If that order is breached, it becomes a criminal offence which could result in five years' imprisonment or a fine. Ms Brown told the meeting that there were currently five ABCs and five ASBOs in East Hampshire, two of each in Alton. Referring to recent behaviour blackspots such as Alton Community Centre car park, Patrick Burridge (Downland) admitted to being sceptical about the effectiveness, particularly of a voluntary contract. Ms Brown assured him that all ABCs and ASBOs were monitored and that while not all worked, some did. In fact, some offenders asked to keep their ABCs because it gave them an excuse to walk away from potential trouble, she said. Community centre manager Richard Swainston, was concerned over how the public could identify a breach when court orders often prohibited the release of mug shots. While many anti-social behaviour incidents stem from neighbour disputes, the majority of problems in the Alton area are said to be youth related. Jerry Janes said he welcomed the current pro-active approach used by the community safety team. In his opinion, behaviour in young people started with the parents and he advocated compulsory attendance of parenting courses for parents of badly behaved youngsters. In attempting to address concerns over low resourcing, CSO Fletcher said that the current changes in policing should leave Hampshire, as a stand-alone authority, better placed to deploy resources where and when they were needed. Alton, he said, was now part of the EH division (with Petersfield and Whitehill) of the NE Hants operational command unit led by Chief Insp Phil Kedge who was currently looking into resource deployment. Although determined by a government allocation formula and, despite the perception of fewer police on the beat, he believed the resources were there to do the job. The division, he confirmed, now had four community safety Officers, covering Liss and Liphook, Petersfield, Headley Down and Grayshott, and Four Marks. While there was no CSO currently based in Alton there were two, he said, in the Alton area and they were just a phone call away. Unless it's an emergency, anti-social behaviour incidents should be reported using the new, non-emergency 101 number. Alternatively residents should ring their local station on 0845 045 4545.
