New ASBO-style orders give police power to tackle 'behaviour people get cross about'

New ASBO-style orders will finally give police the power to tackle "behaviour people get really cross about" - and should be used creatively, the policing minister has said. Sarah Jones told The Mirror she expects forces to be rigorous in enforcing Respect Orders, which come into force today. The measure, similar to the Tony Blair-era anti-social behaviour order (ASBO), carries a two-year prison sentence if breached. Ms Jones said that for too long communities have been let down because chief constables lack the tools to deal with public nuisances like street drinking. Police forces, councils and housing associations are among the groups that can now apply for court orders for relentless adult offenders. Ms Jones said: "Anti-social behaviour is something that really makes people feel like they're not safe in their own communities, and it has been seen as low-level in the past, and perhaps not resourced in the way that it should be." And she added: "We shouldn't normalise it, we should be tackling it." The policing minister said she will be scrutinising chief constables to make sure they make good use of the new power. She said: "I suspect most police forces have a list of 15 to 20 people who they know Respect Orders are going to work for. "So we need to make sure they're enforced, make sure the courts are working properly so that the Respect Orders can go through, and we are working to make sure that will happen. "I think they will be a really powerful tool to tackle anti-social behaviour. I will be watching closely to make sure that they deliver." Unlike ASBOs, the new orders will only be handed out to adults. They can include restrictions on where a person can go and ban them from repeating nuisance behaviour. But in a break from the past, they will also include positive requirements, such as compulsory drug and alcohol treatment and anger management training. Those who breach the orders could face unlimited fines and up to two years behind bars. ASBOs were scrapped by the coalition government in 2014, but there have been calls to resurrect them. Asked if Respect Orders are ASBOs for the 21st century, Ms Jones said: "If you want to describe them as that, you can. "What we're trying to do is bring the best of what worked under the ASBO system and the best of what's worked under some of the behaviour orders that we've had since, and put it together into one easy-to-use tool for the police." Ms Jones said it would be down to public bodies and the courts to determine what kind of nuisance behaviour warrants a Respect Order. During the ASBO era, unusual examples included a woman penalised for having loud sex and a farmer accused of using a flock of sheep to intimidate his neighbours. Pressed on what kind of behaviour the government wants to be targeted, the minister said: "It's quite a broad definition, deliberately, because we want the police and other authorities to be able to think creatively about how they use it. "What I would describe is perhaps regular street drinkers who cause chaos in our parks, people who are persistently aggressively begging, for example. "Somebody in a block who has been unbelievably disruptive, maybe taking drugs in the stairwell, maybe bringing lots of people into the block of housing, because housing associations and councils can use these powers as well. "Transport for London and British Transport Police can use these powers, too, so maybe people who've been persistently on a train drinking, begging, and causing disruption. "Those are the kinds of people - the people that we all get really cross about, and we all are frustrated that nothing is done - those are the people that these Respect Orders are for." But on the example of being ordered to stop having loud sex, Ms Jones said: "The behaviour will have to be persistent and disruptive, so I don't think we'll be going as far as the example that you quoted in terms of ASBOs." Respect Orders will be uploaded to the Police National Computer. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Unchecked, anti-social behaviour blights our communities. But it is not inevitable and I won't accept it. "For too long, we have lacked the powers we need to deal with this problem properly. From today, that changes: authorities will be able to take tough action against these offenders. “This delivers on a commitment we made to the British people in our manifesto. And, most importantly, those who make life a misery for others will now face the consequences of their actions."