Responsibility to tackle antisocial behaviour will be handed to neighbourhood policing teams, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter

The Metropolitan Police will redeploy officers dedicated to tackling antisocial behaviour (ASB) to neighbourhood policing teams, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has learned.

ASB officers work with local authorities across London and have specialist knowledge and experience with serial drug users and consistently problematic families and individuals within boroughs. They also take part in multi-agency risk assessment conferences to help implement bespoke safety plans based on shared local information.

Earlier this week, members on the London Assembly were informed that the role will be axed, however, with their responsibilities to be handled by ward officers instead. Sources within City Hall have indicated concerns that persistent ASB will now be less effectively resourced.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Gareth Roberts told the LDRS: “Cutting specialist antisocial behaviour officers is a phenomenally short-sighted cost saving move which will undoubtedly cost more money in the long run.

“These specialist officers work closely with councils and other partners to deal with known individual offenders who are responsible for disproportionately high numbers of crimes on our streets.

“Unless he steps in, then axing these officers will send a clear signal that tackling antisocial behaviour in our communities isn’t a priority for the mayor.”

It is understood that the move is part of a wider plan to boost visible policing in neighbourhoods, rather than to save money.

Earlier this year the Met announced plans to shut almost half of the capital’s police station front counters in a bid to save £7million amid a £260m budget shortfall. The move would also free up officers currently stationed behind desks that the force say are used less and less each year to report crimes.

In May, the Met also decided to remove 371 specialist safer school officers stationed within designated facilities and instead assign them to a specific neighbourhood policing ward instead.

A Met Police source told the LDRS: “This shift is not to do with the Met budget gaps – it’s a decision to move resources to a smarter place.”

In April ministers announced the launch of the neighbourhood policing guarantee, which aims to recruit 13,000 extra officers to patrol communities. Six months on, every force now has a dedicated antisocial behaviour (ASB) lead to work directly with communities to develop action plans to tackle local concerns.

A Met spokesperson told the LDRS: “The Met is committed to continuing its crackdown on antisocial behaviour in local communities, driven by the Home Office’s neighbourhood policing guarantee and the ‘New Met for London’ priorities to invest in community crime-fighting and reduce antisocial behaviour.

“Current antisocial behaviour officers will join our dedicated neighbourhood policing teams. These local teams will receive enhanced training to tackle antisocial behaviour, be more visible and proactively fight the crimes that matter most to local communities. Key town centres across London will also see an officer uplift, to drive a reduction in antisocial behaviour and local crime in hotspot areas.”

A spokesperson for Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan told the LDRS: “Nothing is more important to the mayor than keeping Londoners safe and Sadiq is determined to do all he can tackle crime and its complex causes and build on progress that has been achieved in London.

“The mayor supports the Met’s ongoing work to prioritise and boost high visibility policing at the heart of London’s communities which includes moving antisocial behaviour officers to front line, neighbourhood policing roles to fight crime and keep everyone in the capital safe.

“The mayor’s record £1.16billion annual investment, combined with the renewed focus on neighbourhood policing, has already seen strong results with knife crime, burglary, theft from person and personal robbery all down in the first quarter this year – and violence with injury down in every borough in the city over the past year.

“The mayor will continue to work closely with the Met and the commissioner to build a better and safer London for all.”

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