Challenges facing crime chief

West Midlands Police chief constable Paul Scott-Lee speaks to

about the fight against yob behaviour - and why his force needs to win the hearts and minds of the public they serve.

The West Midlands' top police officer today backs the use of Asbos, declaring: "They do work".In an exclusive interview with the Express & Star, West Midlands chief constable Paul Scott-Lee says he saw no evidence of orders becoming "badges of honour" for louts.

But he warned that the gulf between young and old was one of the greatest challenges facing the region, with "fear and distrust" on both sides.

His comments came following a report which said Britain's teenagers believed Asbos increased their street cred among friends.

A survey for the Youth Justice Board showed nearly half of under-18s had breached their orders, and that the sanctions had the potential to become "glamorous" to young offenders.

Mr Scott-Lee says: "Asbos have a part to play, but they aren't the only answer to every issue - they are part of the answer to some of the issues.

"The majority of young people go on to become responsible adults.

"But the Asbo is a way of saying to people 'your behaviour has to change'. A large number of people that that happens to do change. There are a proportion who don't.

"I don't see any evidence that it's a badge of honour. If you're given an Asbo which says you can't go into this part of Wolverhampton, it will affect your life.

"The important thing for me is that it makes a very clear, public statement about what is acceptable and what isn't."

In November, two young Wolverhampton brothers made national headlines when they were slapped with Asbos.

Ricky and Daniel Oakley, aged 11 and 12, faced an "appaling" catalogue of around 40 allegations including stone throwing, letting down tyres and breaking fences in their Park Village neighbourhood.

Mr Scott-Lee says: "If we ask the people of the West Midlands what concerns them most, they say anti-social behaviour.

"My biggest concern is the gap between young people and older people.

The chief constable said activities where young and old people mixed were scarce.

He said: "Sadly, that only happens at weddings and funerals for most people. We take our entertainment very separately.

"People don't talk about groups of young people, they talk about gangs. We don't talk about 'gangs of pensioners'.

"You say 'What do you mean by anti-social behaviour?' They say 'young people'."

"There is fear and distrust on both sides."

Trust is a word that is high on the chief constable's priority list.

He says too few people believe West Midlands Police are doing a good job.

Just over 80 per cent of residents questioned in surveys believed the force was performing well

He said: "That's not high enough, but in terms of going in the right direction, it's the right way forward." Mr Scott-Lee pointed to a drop in recorded crime of 4.7 per cent - from 195,450 to 186,242 offences - as positive signs for the coming year.

He says: "The most important thing for me is 'What does it feel like for the people who live and work in the West Midlands?'

"All the indications are that the public are feeling better about life in the West Midlands."

Of the thousands of people surveyed, 94 per cent said they felt safe or fairly safe in their neighbourhoods during the day.

And more people now believed they could influence policing in their areas.

He said neighbourhood policing had now been rolled out across the region, with 1,700 officers and 520 community support officers dedicated to tackling the problems residents wanted addressed.

Mr Scott-Lee says: "The challenge in the West Midlands is not the big, individual incidents. The challenge is maintaining policing while all of the changes are going on. Most of the challenges never see the public light of day.

"Last week, for example, we successfully resolved a kidnap. We arrested the offenders, freed the victim and nobody got hurt. That case will not have a public side, but it's just one of many day to day incidents."

He hailed the successful probe into rioting in Birmingham and said arrests were still being made, more than a year after violence led to the deaths of two people and left countless others injured.

And Mr Scott-Lee says that while some crime levels were the lowest for 26 years, the force was not becoming complacent.

"We need a healthy fear of crime. I want people to be conscious, I want people to be careful, I don't want their life to be blighted by fear of crime."