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Reports of anti-social behaviour recorded by the council have risen by more than 10 per cent – but police say that incidents reported to them have dropped by a third
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New data gives mixed picture of anti-social behaviour

By Becky Barnes
November 13, 2012

Reports of anti-social behaviour recorded by the council have risen by more than 10 per cent – but police say that incidents reported to them have dropped by a third.

Bracknell Forest Council’s recording system CADIS (Community nuisance And Disorder Information System) logged a 10.8 per cent rise from April to September, compared to the same period last year.

However, police chiefs say reports to them of anti-social behaviour are down by 33 per cent compared to this time last year.

Ian Boswell, Bracknell Forest Council’s community safety manager, said: “CADIS uses a much broader set of data and there have been lots of changes in the system.”

The database takes information not only from police, but also from the fire service, ambulance service and organisations such as Bracknell Forest Homes, which looks after 6,000 homes in the borough.

Mr Boswell said: “The introduction of mobiles and technology and therefore anti-social behaviour via texting and Facebook has changed the category we used.

“There are rises in anti-social behaviour [recorded by CADIS], but with [the number of] people phoning the police there’s a healthy reduction.”

Incidents from fly-tipping to dog barking reported to the council counts towards the CADIS figures.

Bracknell’s Chief Inspector Simon Bowden said CADIS gave a ‘holistic view’.

He said: “It gives us a whole view of the trends, but sometimes the figures are not accurate as they may have reported to more than one agency.

“But it gives us the bigger picture so we can work on it together as a partnership.”

Mr Boswell added there are sometimes ‘anomalies’ which can add to the figures.

He said: “We can use the data to add a much richer picture – there has been a fall in reports to the police and fall in criminal damage.

“I don’t think it is getting worse – we are perhaps getting a better picture of it.”

Bracknell Local Policing Area has seen criminal damage reduced by 2.8 per cent from April to September compared to the same period in 2011.

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Most recent user comments 2 of 2

Ha! The crimes have risen but the people reporting is has fallen... Did he actually proof read his report? No one calls because there are no Bracknell police at night! We have to borrow them from maidenhead, and who can be bothered to drive from there to here? Not me and most of the time not the police.

blunt as a brick, forest park
14/11/2012 at 12:29

"Reports of anti-social behaviour recorded by the council have risen by more than 10 per cent – but police say that incidents reported to them have dropped by a third."

That's because people have lost faith in the police and don't waste their own time reporting crimes to them, knowing that the police will do nothing about it. And even if they did, the culprits would get either let off, or if they really were naughty, a stern warning!