Stark reality of anti-social behaviour in Birmingham as victims feel 'unable' to tell police

More anti-social behaviour offences were reported to police in the West Midlands last year, but campaigners fear true figures may be much higher.

It comes as the number of incidents across England and Wales hit their lowest level for 16 years.

However, the charity Victim Support warned many people feel they won't be taken seriously when reporting anti-social behaviour, suggesting the true numbers could be higher.

Home Office figures show there were 26,511 incidents of anti-social behaviour reported to West Midlands Police in the year to March – equivalent to nine incidents per 1,000 people.

This was a 30% increase on the year before when there were 20,322, but a 56% decrease on the year to March 2021, which saw a spike in offences nationally.

Across England and Wales, the number of reported anti-social behaviour incidents fell slightly, remaining at just above 1 million. This was the lowest figure since 2007-08, when there were 3.9 million reported incidents.

Rachel Almeida, assistant director at Victim Support said: "While reports to the police of anti-social behaviour have gone down, sadly these incidents remain a common reality for many. Every year one in three people will experience or witness some type of anti-social behaviour.

"We know from our experience that many victims feel that they aren’t taken seriously, or worry that no action will be taken when they report. This isn’t helped by the fact that victims of ASB do not have the same rights to information and support as victims of crime.

"We believe it is time that this changed - and we call on the Government to boost the rights of victims and guarantee that they can always access support."

In its election manifesto Labour promised to "crack down on anti-social behaviour", saying it hits the poorest communities hardest and can lead to more serious offending.

It committed to introducing new Respect Orders, which could ban persistent adult offenders from town centres, and ensure fly-tippers and vandals will be forced to clean up the mess they have created.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also promised to restore "visible neighbourhood policing", restoring patrols to town centres by recruiting thousands of new police officers, police and community support officers, and special constables.

But the Manifesto Club, which seeks to defend civil liberties and freedom in public spaces and everyday life, warned against introducing "even more draconian and unchecked powers" to combat anti-social behaviour.

Its director Josie Appleton said: "In our experience, anti-social behaviour statistics include a great variety of incidents, with police logs including everything from buskers to" begging to drug use."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Crime survey data shows a growing concern around anti-social behaviour amongst communities.

"That is why it is this Government’s mission to take back our streets. We are committed to delivering thousands of extra neighbourhood police and community support officers, tackling anti-social behaviour and introducing tougher powers to tackle repeat offending."