Successive governments have set the police on a dangerous course of ‘fast and loose’ policing. This prioritises the high use of increasingly flexible powers, with low benchmarks for issue, and carrying increasingly heavy penalties.

There is no credible official data on the police use of existing ASB powers, and no Home Office study of their on-the-ground effectiveness. No police authority or body has carried out an assessment of the use of ASB powers.

The policing of ‘ASB’ is taking the police away from a concern with criminal acts into areas such as petty disputes between neighbours, the regulation of model aircraft flying, and the sleeping spots of homeless people. This means a loss of focus and an ineffective use of police resources, as well as a significant restriction on the liberties of law-abiding citizens.

Read the Manifesto Club report ‘The Police Use and Abuse of ASB powers’.