The unit, which will grow by 13 officers, has increased the number of ASBOs it has imposed on people of all ages in Birmingham from 12 in 2003-04 to 52 in 2004-05. Alison Parsons, head of antisocial behaviour at Birmingham City Council, said most ASBOs were given to young people. "They are being used against young people because it is the only recourse we have for them," she said.
"We are expanding because we have been inundated with more than 1,000 calls a month to our helpline over things such as young people hanging around in the streets or playing football and causing a nuisance."
The 13 new officers will be part of a team of 29 and will be working with youth offending teams, community safety partnership and social workers.
ASBOs are also being used against gangs in Birmingham. "We used to try to isolate the ringleader but now we target several of them and give them ASBOs and acceptable behaviour contracts," said Parsons.
Beresford Dawkins, community development officer at Birmingham Youth Service, is working on tackling gangs in Birmingham.
He said: "There are two types of gangs: the criminal ones, and the ones that are perceived as such but are just young people hanging out in the street. High-risk young people who are involved in guns and crime are not the ones who hang out on the street and get ASBOs."
