Reid launches national 'respect squad'

A national 'respect squad', which will tackle anti-social behaviour has been launched by Home Secretary John Reid.

The squad of trouble-shooters will be made up of experienced frontline staff from the police and local authorities who will be available to be called in to tackle incidents of persistent anti-social behaviour in England and Wales.

The ten-strong squad will be available to local authorities, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, police chiefs, councillors and MPs.

Mr Reid said that the squad would be able to provide swift resolution to challenging problems, where other channels of action appeared to have been exhausted.

The squad will also intervene where evidence demonstrates insufficient action has been taken by agencies.

Mr Reid said: "Anti-social behaviour ruins lives and fragments communities - particularly those in some of the most deprived areas of our country. The government's new respect squad will ensure there is no let-up in tackling anti-social behaviour, until every community in every part of the country gets a swift and effective response to their problem."

The respect squad will be appointed to investigate a case and make recommendations for progress to the Crime Disorder Reduction Partnership chair.

A copy of the squad's assessment will be made available to the public, keeping them informed on progress and reinforcing residents' power to demand action.

The government's respect co-ordinator Louise Casey said: "A full range of powers is available to tackle anti-social behaviour and the majority of agencies are doing an excellent job in facing the issues head-on, however there is much more work still to be done and, on occasion, agencies need help using these powers.

"Those experiencing the daily grind of anti-social behaviour deserve a prompt and effective response from those agencies charge. The Respect Squad will assist with this while creating a public record so local people can demand answers if action is not taken."

However, Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesperson Nick Clegg said: "The idea that you can enforce respect up and down the country with a team of 10 Whitehall 'fixers' is nonsense.

"While the Home Office should of course support local initiatives and share best practice, these sort of headline-grabbing initiatives belittle the complexity of these problems."

(KMcA/CD)