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"If anyone's got a huge degree of London cynicism, this is where you ditch it," announces Louise Casey, head of the Home Office's antisocial behaviour unit. This is the third of the unit's "academies" for frontline staff involved in the fight against low-level crime, and the roadshow has hit London.

The subtly lit banqueting hall of the Metropole Hilton hotel on the Edgware Road seems a world away from the crime-ridden estates where the 330 delegates – council workers, housing association staff and police officers – work every day. But as Casey bounds onto the stage, there is no doubt the Home Office means business.

The Together Academies aren't just offering training on "tackling rather than tolerating" antisocial behaviour and the enforcement powers contained in the Antisocial Behaviour Act, which came into force in January. Whether in the rousing speeches that begin the day or the more specialised break-out sessions for law enforcement's rawest recruits, they are nothing short of a call to arms.

"This is about action, not just good intentions," says the home secretary in a video message introduced by crime reduction minister Hazel Blears. "People want someone to do something, and that someone is going to be you."

In workshops on topics such as antisocial behaviour orders, information-sharing and environmental crime, the message of empowerment is no less strong. "In the audience we have lots of Wonder Women and Indiana Joneses," says Bill Pitt, Manchester council's head of nuisance strategy, in his seminar on nuisance neighbours. "With your information systems, knowledge and resources you might as well be superheroes. The question is whether you use these resources."

There's a steady, polite flow of questions. One woman wonders whether she can replicate Manchester's success with a much smaller legal team; someone else says his authority's lawyers aren't interested. Pitt is unequivocal: "Lawyers deal with the law. You are trying to do something very different – secure peace and justice. You should be instructing the lawyers what you want them to do. If what you're saying is not unlawful, won't bring the organisation into disrepute, then they should do it."

Later, Casey admits she got the idea for the academies when visiting frontline staff and joking about the BBC talent show Fame Academy. "We were talking about training needs. It's great for people to have a consistent message about policy," she says. Although there are no further regional academies planned beyond the initial 10, the drive does not stop there. The Together website will be launched on 2 April, including all the ideas from the academy's discussion groups, and the antisocial behaviour unit's £75m action line has been taking calls since 3 March.

At times, the day does start to feel a bit like a telethon. After a brisk romp through advances in government policy peppered with references to her Salford constituency, Blears launches into an anecdote about the action line, "providing new solutions every day". On the third morning, a team from Portsmouth called up for advice on closing crackhouses, someone talked them through and, by the close of play, they had been to court and obtained the order. The message was clear: let's hit those phones, folks, and make a difference.

Casey deliberately focused the academies on the enforcement side of antisocial behaviour, so the programme contains nothing on working with problem tenants to change their behaviour. "We think that's already there," she explains. "Enforcement was where the gap was."

For all the tough talking, though, the Home Office measures its rhetoric carefully. "'Punitive' is not the right word," Casey says in answer to a question. "It's 'enforcement'."

This is about action, not just good intentions. People want someone to do something, and that someone is going to be you 

David Blunkett

Constructive experience
There's no doubt that on this chilly March day, the Together Academy is the hottest ticket in town. The venue has been changed to a larger one because of unexpected demand but, like the previous events in Birmingham and Brighton, the Hilton could have been filled twice over.

Feedback from attendees is generally positive and most welcome the chance to hear what other organisations are doing. "It's very constructive. Everyone who needs to be here is here," says a man from the Metropolitan Police.

But the omission of softer measures does not go unnoticed. Pitt is challenged by a man in the audience who asks, what about the children at risk of social exclusion, what about the caring side of the council? Pitt holds the line. "There is a place for balance, but we're talking about protecting people – often children – at risk of antisocial behaviour," he says. "This workshop is about the establishment of standards."

Josephine Birungi, customer services adviser at Ekaya Housing Association, a small registered social landlord in south London, is attending the academy to find out how to deal with dumped cars and rubbish. She says it was "a really good day" but thinks mediation should have been covered: "It was all to do with legal issues. We don't have that much money to keep running up to court."

The question of resources comes up a lot. Many of the attendees are from local authorities that can only dream of the money and staff available to the superhero councils like Camden and Manchester that are leading the sessions. "Some of the ideas may have been a bit pie in the sky, with lots of wardens and police community support officers available to help. In an ideal world, that would be good," says Louise Kelly, a tenancy enforcement officer at Airways Housing.

"For councils from boroughs outside London, Camden isn't as relevant to us. I don't know how realistic it is to expect people from smaller areas to try and get 66 ASBOs." For Kelly, the biggest problems are not crack dens but harassment and threatening behaviour from kids on Airway's estates.

Still, the day does inspire smaller boroughs to emulate Camden's ASBO success – it has secured 66 so far. Despite having a fraction of the resources of Camden, Paul Hayes, antisocial behaviour coordinator at Basingstoke and Deane council, says he has "gone mad about interim ASBOs" to address the problem of youth street drinking.

He had never used them before attending the academy but got to work the very next day, approaching his legal department with two prime cases. He also found the seminar on information sharing helpful, and has passed on what he learned to colleagues. "I've produced a leaflet, a revamped version of one I got from the academy, to show all parties that if we ask for information we can get it," he says.