In more detail
Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is the day-to-day incidents of crime, nuisance and disorder that can make neighbourhood life a misery. ASB has been defined in law as:
- behaviour by a person which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the person.
- conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person; and conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises; and conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person.
The video above is of Ron Hogg, the Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham, speaking about Antisocial Behaviour and the 'Community Trigger' introduced by the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (see below).
Types of ASB
The police classify ASB under three broad headings related to its effect :
- personal ASB is behavior targeted at an individual or group rather than the community at large. An example might be name calling and abuse aimed at a particular family.
- nuisance ASB is where the behavior affects the community at large rather than an individual or group. An example, might be loud parties held late at night.
- environmental ASB is where the incident is not aimed at an individual or group but affects the shared environment. An example, might be tagging graffiti.
Examples of the type of activities referred to as ASB include things which communities might imagine could be dealt with through the local planning system, including:
- abandoned vehicles
- the inappropriate use of vehicles resulting nuisance
- rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour
- rowdy or nuisance neighbours
- littering and particular with needles and other drugs paraphernalia
- animals kept or managed inappropriately
- trespass
- nuisance phone calls
- street drinking
- prostitution-related activity
- noise
- street-begging in a menacing way
- letting off fireworks.
In fact, these issues and ones similar to them can be addressed through legislation dealing with ASB and less formal approaches led by the police, council, social landlords and community organisations.
Antisocial Behavior, Crime and Policing Act 2014
This law reformed the way agencies deal with anti-social behaviour. It simplified the range of actions that agencies can take. The law reduced a confusing array of different powers involved to these six (the first two of which effectively replace the Antisocial Behaviour Order or ASBO which is now obsolete). The six tools for dealing with ASB are:
- injunction – the court forbids someone from doing something. In an residential setting, an injunction can be issued in response to behavior which causes ‘nuisance and annoyance’. In non-residential areas (eg the high street) an injunction can be issued if behavior causes ‘harassment, alarm or distress’.
- Criminal Behaviour Order – if the court believes someone who has already been convicted of a crime will continue to cause anti-social behavior, it can make a Criminal Behaviour Order to stop them doing this anti-social behaviour.
- Dispersal Powers – these allow the police to direct people to leave a public place and not return for a specified time.
- Community Protection Notices and Orders – designed to stop ongoing environmental anti-social behaviour. They can be used against individuals or organisations.
- Public Spaces Protection Order – aims to tackle nuisance or a problem in a public area. The order applies to everyone using that public area.
- Closure of Premises – prevents entry to a building because the use of that place has resulted in anti-social behaviour. This could be a house, a pub or club or a council office etc.
All the agencies involved in tackling ASB are committed to trying to prevent problems occurring and/or intervening early where they can. To do this, the police, council and other bodies use things like:
- verbal and written warnings
- mediation
- Acceptable Behaviour Contract – written agreement between a young person under 18 who has been involved in ASB and the police and the council which is witnessed by theparents. By signing the agreement, the young person commits not to be involved with anti-social acts in future.
The police and the council use these techniques before they can take a case to court. Dealing with ASB formally through the legal system is likely to be a lengthy process, but is likely to be much quicker than produing a neighbourhood plan which, in any case, will not be able to target ASB in the way the lcoal community wants.
Community Trigger and Community Remedy
What is, and isn’t, ASB is a subjective judgement. The same behavior can affect people in different ways. What is acceptable in one community is not necessarily in another. The best way of dealing with ASB effectively also varies. The Antisocial Behavior, Crime and Policing Act 2014 put the focus on the effect of ASB (rather than the behaviour which caused it), which makes the matter even more subjective. The law is clear that frontline professionals, police and council officers, are expected to use their judgement rather than following a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Resolving ASB in an area in the long term depends on the local community. The expectation is now that agencies will work with communities and victims. There are two measures designed to give victims and communities a say in the way anti-social behaviour is dealt with:
- Community Trigger- which gives victims the ability to demand action, starting with a review of their case, where the locally defined threshold is met.
- Community Remedy – which gives victims a say in the out-of-court punishment of perpetrators for low-level crime and anti-social behaviour.
Crime and Disorder Legislation is a presentation made by Leanne Burrows which covers the way the law for dealing with ASB has developed in England over the past 20 years:
| Key Facts:
Antisocial Behaviour covers a range of things which communities might think they could be addressed through a neighbourhood plan. The Antisocial Behavior, Crime and Policing Act 2014 set out a new framework for policing and dealing formally with ASB which should make it easier for communities to deal formally with problems. There are also less formal approaches led by communities, social landlords and councils which may deal with problems more quickly. The new law includes community based measures designed to give victims more influence. |
Page Links from here
ASB Help is a charity set up to help the victims of antisocial behaviour.
The Home Office has published a Guide to the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Police Act which is available as a PDF
Citizens Advice has a guide for dealing with ASB
Problem Neighbours is a website giving advice on dealing with difficuklt neighbours, set up by John Rowlinson who is a property investor and software developer
Neighbour Nuisance and Antisocial Behaviour is a factsheet from the Local Government Ombudsman aimed at people who are having difficulty in gettingtheir council to take action
In this toolkit:
OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.
BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
| created: 2016-06-27 09:35:57 | by: admin | status: f published |