Acton residents unconvinced about action against ASB

Ealing News (opens external site) reports that residents continue to experience drug use and suspected dealing, fighting, shouting and other disorder around residential buildings near Morrisons. Some residents say the problems have become worse rather than better since Operation Broad Oak was launched in June.

First, credit is due to Ealing News for reporting on the issue.

Independent hyperlocal journalism matters. Local outlets can listen to residents, revisit stories after the initial headlines have passed and test official statements against what people are actually experiencing on particular streets. Without that reporting, persistent neighbourhood problems can easily disappear inside much broader statistics.

And the statistics here deserve closer examination.

The Metropolitan Police told Ealing News that reported anti-social behaviour across Acton fell from 85 incidents in June to 44 in August - a reduction of 48.2%.

Yet FixASB's analysis of published street-level data for the immediate area around The Mount shows the opposite direction between the two months for which data is currently available: 44 anti-social behaviour incidents in June, rising to 56 in July - an increase of around 27%. August street-level data has yet to be published.

There is another question too: what exactly does the Met mean by “across Acton”?

Published police data records 60 anti-social behaviour incidents in North Acton in June and 91 in South Acton. Together, that is 151 incidents - considerably more than the 85 cited by the Met for “Acton” during the same month.

There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation. The figures could come from different systems, use different geographic boundaries, or count reports differently. But if so, that methodology needs to be clear. Otherwise residents are being presented with statistics they cannot readily reproduce or reconcile with the data published for their neighbourhoods.

This is why both hyperlocal journalism and hyperlocal data matter.

Anti-social behaviour can fall across a large area while remaining concentrated - or worsening - in a particular hotspot. For somebody regularly encountering disorder outside their home, an improvement elsewhere in Acton provides limited reassurance.

We also know that reductions in anti-social behaviour can often be due to fatigue from individuals tired of reporting, rather than a real reduction in the scale or impact of a problem. That's why we've designed FixASB to make it as easy as possible to track whether issues are ongoing, improving or resolved.