Police commissioners must prioritise anti-social behaviour, says LGA survey

The new breed of directly-elected police commissioners should make tackling anti-social behaviour their number one priority, research conducted for the Local Government Association has suggested.

Commissioners, who will take office in November 2012, will set priorities for the local police force, oversee its budget and hire the chief constable. Introduced by the Police Crime & Social Responsibility Act 2011, they will replace police authorities and also take over budgets for Community Safety Partnerships from councils.

An opinion poll of 1,878 adults in England and Wales, conducted for the LGA, found that:

• 71% of respondents named anti-social behaviour as one of the top three priorities for commissioners. Other popular areas were gun and knife crime (43%) and property crime (36%)
• Nearly one in three people (31%) thought tackling gangs should be a top priority
• Just one in four people (23%) were aware that elections were being held for police commissioners
• The majority of respondents (69%) said they would vote
• More than half (54%) suggested that a candidate's knowledge of issues within the local community that can affect crime and a willingness to support the community's fight against crime would be likely to influence their voting choice
• 38% said they would be more inclined to vote for a candidate who lived in the local area
• 41% said they would be swayed to choose a candidate if they pledged to work alongside other public services.

Cllr Mehboob Khan, Chairman of the LGA's Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: "Most councillors up and down the country would not be surprised that anti-social behaviour is uppermost in people's concerns about their areas. Councils have been at the forefront of tackling the sort of nuisance behaviour that can make people's lives a misery and they are often the first place people turn to if they are having problems.

"Local authorities have come a long way in understanding what works when it comes to dealing with anti-social behaviour. It is vital that, when elected police commissioners arrive in office next November, this expertise is not cast aside.”

Cllr Khan warned that ASB was not an issue that police could tackle alone.

 “As core members of community safety partnerships, councils have worked alongside health agencies, the fire service, schools, probation officers and the police to tackle the root causes of anti-social behaviour,” he said. “The results of this survey show that the public will expect new police chiefs to continue to work alongside councils to build on that good work."