The stark reality of Antisocial Behaviour is that most of it isn’t seen in public. It takes place in neighbourhoods and on estates where gangs takeover residences and run amok in houses.
I’ve seen it before in two large cities in the UK. The house – or flat – is invaded by criminals. They ‘squat’ in the property. They take food, use washroom facilities, and sleep in any of the rooms it has. The occupier is left making do.
This is a type of Antisocial Behaviour that people have most often complained about to me. “It happens to just about anyone,” a man said to me in Manchester, “it just comes, and then it goes.”
The enforcement of it is rapid if it happens. It’s taken to Court. It’s dealt with in others ways, such as by health experts and support workers. This breaks up the group, and separates their problems into parts.
The legacy is trauma. I’ve met people still frightened years after the events. They hate living here, and they distrust people. It’s understandable. The experience is horrible. The people are disgusting. It’s an offensive act.
The targets are picked at random and its culprits are seemingly incapable of fitting into society. I’ve found groups living in forests because they can’t live beside others. I’ve found still more trying to bed it down in fields next to rail tracks.
If the response is to enforce the law, it always works out. In fact, further attacks are unlikely. It’s just an idea, or a plan that people concoct in their head in a moment. It’s easy to put people off it, but we need to try to do it every single time.