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This week saw the publication of an essay, under the Royal Society of Arts brand, from Ben Rogers on anti social behaviour. The burning question: Can citizens tackle anti social behaviour?
Ben’s premise is that just as people are trained as first aiders (First Aid courses apparently started in Woolwich, hence the title), so they could be trained as community responders to tackle anti social behaviour.
The rationale is that in these difficult financial times, and against a philosophy of ‘co-production’ of outcomes, a community oriented, skills based, training programme which addresses effective ASB interventions, is designed by professional experts, is simple, so that almost anyone can master it, is aimed at adults and which appeals to civic or humanitarian motives, has merit.
Ben argues that three core skills should be taught:
Basic skills in self-protection and restraint ( It is important to know what physical steps to take to minimise the risk to oneself or others when confronted with a violent or potentially violent situation, including knowing how to position oneself to affect an escape, and how to defend oneself or others if attacked).
How to ‘read’ a situation, to appraise when it is appropriate to walk on by, when it is safe and appropriate to intervene, or when the police are
called for.
Training in conflict resolution: skills for mediation and restoration. People who take a community safety course should leave knowing how to defuse an argument, forge an agreement, and, where appropriate, elicit an apology.
Have a read and see what you make of the concept. The reality is that, as budgets and workforces shrink and expectations continue to rise, policing agencies ARE going to require greater public involvement in delivering effective outcomes. This may not be the complete solution, but it’s certainly worth a read.
The full essay/report can be found in the Agency Reports section of this site here
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