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Anti-social behaviour can have a detrimental effect on your quality of life. From the annoyance of rowdy groups to personal attacks that result in the act of vandalism, it can cause stress, anxiety and make you feel unsafe in your own home.
However, you’re not on your own in dealing with anti-social behaviour. Local authorities have a wide range of procedures in place to tackle ASB. Below is a look at how the police can help.
How anti-social behaviour is classified
Anti-social behaviour is viewed differently by different people. Someone may feel certain actions are the result of ASB, but these complaints might end up being dismissed by the police.
For instance, children playing in the neighbourhood, even if they can be heard, is not classed as anti-social. It’s the same for a group of teenagers congregating on the street. Yet if that group of teenagers turns rowdy, abusive, or causes damage such as breaking windows, the situation changes.
Examples of ASB include:
- Abandoned vehicles, even if left on the street or in a public car park
- Inappropriate vehicle use
- Rowdy, noisy behaviour. This can include people yelling close to your house
- Nuisance neighbours. This includes everything from parking disputes to regular disruptive parties
- Littering
- Animal issues such as fouling, intimidation, and barking
- Trespassing
- Nuisance calls
- Unlicensed drinking which takes place in public spaces
- Vandalism like graffiti and damaged property
- Inappropriate firework usage
If you’re unsure an action is regarded as anti-social, you can contact the police and ask for advice by calling 101.
How the police deal with anti-social behaviour
There are a number of court orders in place that allow for the police to deal with anti-social behaviour. These include criminal behaviour orders and public space protection orders. There’s also the loitering law, known in the UK as the Vagrancy Act, which further helps with identifying certain anti-social behaviours as a criminal offence.
For serious cases of ASB, civil injunctions are a possibility. An injunction is designed to stop someone from continuing to engage in anti-social behaviour, with the threat of arrest if the injunction is breached. There are also community protection notices. A CPN is issued to persistent ASB offenders, and failure to comply can lead to fixed penalty notices, remedial work, and court orders.
Taking the issue into your own hands
The police are not always the saviour. You might have reported ASB, but it seems as if nobody is listening or taking action. Where else can you turn? One potential step is to utilise the Community Trigger.
When an incident has been reported at least three times within a six-month period, the Community Trigger can be activated with your local authority. This supplies the right to demand that all relevant agencies (local police, authority, housing association, etc.) work together to deal with persistent ASB.
You can also take a more proactive step in ensuring a more peaceful, stress-free life – and without needing to confront the ASB offenders. This can be done by installing a Mosquito anti-loitering alarm.
With this alarm in place, you can use high-frequency sound to effectively disperse people hanging around near your home. All done while avoiding confrontation and other unwelcome situations. Click on the following link to learn more about the Mosquito device.