Police perceptions of powers within the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

Police perceptions of powers within the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

This report presents findings from research conducted by the Home Office, including:

• police officers were generally aware of what anti-social behaviour powers are available to them
• police officers reported preferred non-enforcement resolution in the first instance, therefore, they more commonly used powers where more informal measures had not led to a change in behaviour
• where police used powers, Community Protection Notices and their warning stage were normally most common and used in a broad and flexible way

Police were generally content with the range of powers available to them although they noted some minor potential changes to the legislation which they perceived could be useful. The main barriers to using the powers were knowledge and confident in implementation and, for court-based powers, the legal process.