Dealing With Anti-Social Behaviour - ASB
Introduction
What to do if you are experiencing anti-social behaviour (ASB)
Who are the Anti-Social Behaviour Teams? Harlow District Police - Harlow Council Community Safety Enforcement - Harlow Council Housing
What are Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) and Good Neighbour Contracts (GNCs)?
What is an Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO)?
What is Anti-Social Behaviour?
The term anti-Social Behaviour covers a wide range of selfish and unacceptable activity that can blight the quality of community life. Terms such as ‘nuisance’, ‘disorder’ and ‘harassment’ are also used to describe some of this behaviour.
Types of ASB include, but aren't limited to:
- Nuisance Neighbours
- Yobbish behaviour and intimidating groups taking over public spaces
- Vandalism, Graffiti and Fly-posting
- People dealing and buying drugs on the street
- People dumping rubbish and abandoning cars
- Begging and anti-social drinking
- The misuse of fireworks
- Reckless driving of mini-motorbikes
A legal definition of anti-social behaviour is found in the crime & disorder Act 1998. The Act describes anti-social behaviour as ‘acting in an anti-social manner as a manner that caused or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the complainant
’What Action can be taken?
Anti-social behaviour causes harm to individuals and the community and must be stopped as soon as possible, when the minimum harm has been caused
The goal of any Action is to:
- Protect victims, witnesses and the community
- Enable the perpetrator to understand the consequences of their behaviour
- Makes sure the perpetrator changes their behaviour
Measures that can be used by the Police and other agencies include:
- Warning letters and interviews, contracts and agreements
- Fixed penalty notices and notices for disorder
- Parenting Orders, individual Support Orders, noise abatement notices, injunctions, dispersal powers and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)
- Crack house’ closure orders
- Possession proceedings against a tenant
Action may be initiated by a number of agencies including the Police, Harlow Council, Registered Social Landlords (Housing Associations) and Youth Offending Teams