Exactly what are ASB incidents?

A very special thanks to the National Policing Improvement Agency who have shared with us the underlying breakdown of Crimes and ASB incidents allocated to the six very broad categories we are given Crime and ASB data on. These are;

Burglary, Robbery,l Vehicle, Violent, Other and ASB.

Now we know the subcategories for each of these and we will be sharing these with you over the next few days.

Now back to the subject heading of this post. Users of this website will have noticed how ASB incidents – which are not crimes – actually in terms of numbers are the biggest category of them all – 243,790 incidents alone in England and Wales in May 2011.

But by itself, an ASB incident doesn’t really mean anything to the observer. It is a seemingly detached description and doesn’t feel real. Can you imagine getting interested or even excited about knowing an “ASB incident” happened in a specific area last month?

So here for the first time are the real breakdowns of what ASB incidents comprise and it’s quite an eye-opener;

1. Abandonded Vehicles (not Stolen or causing an Obstruction)
2. Animal problems
3. Begging / Vagrancy
4. Hoax calls to Emergency Services
5. Inappropriate Sale / Use / Possession of Fireworks
6. Malicious / Nuisance Communications
7. Noise
8. Prostitution Related Activity
9. Rowdy and / or Nuisance Behaviour: Environmental Damage / Littering
10. Rowdy and / or Nuisance Behaviour: Neighbours
11. Rowdy or Inconsiderate Behaviour
12. Street Drinking
13. Solvent Misuse
14. Trespass
15. Vehicle Nuisance / Inappropriate Use

So there’s quite a lot here that people could quickly understand and relate to.

And for the first time, I for one, have a better understanding of why ASB incidents figure so prominently across the country.