Community Trigger workshop with Merseyside PCC - 23/06/21
Helping victims of ASB to get the right response
More than 30 community safety organisations will receive training today to ensure victims of anti-social behaviour get the right response, thanks to the region’s Police Commissioner.
Emily Spurrell has united with charity ASB Help to run the online workshop today (Wednesday 23rd June) which aims to increase awareness and understanding of the ‘Community Trigger’.
The Community Trigger, also known as the ASB Case Review, was introduced in 2014. It is a legal tool which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the right to demand that local agencies review their response.
A member of the public can request a Community Trigger from their local council if they have reported three incidents of anti-social behaviour in the preceding six months, and they feel further action is needed to resolve their case. Anyone can activate the community trigger, including practitioners, with the consent of the victim.
Once a Community Trigger is activated, the local council must notify the other organisations involved, including the police, local health teams and registered providers of social housing, and hold a multi-agency case review, which sees all the various agencies come together to identify actions that can be taken to resolve the case.
If a victim is not happy with the response, they can appeal to the Police Commissioner who will examine the case review and may ask the agencies to conduct a further review of their case.
Today’s virtual training will be led by ASB Help’s Chief Executive Rebecca Brown, and is due to be attended by 33 representatives from partner organisations, including each of the region’s five Local Authority community safety partnerships, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue and a host of housing associations and community organisations.
Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “The Community Trigger was brought in seven years ago to give victims of persistent ASB who feel nothing is being done and no-one is listening, the chance to get answers.
“Yet sadly, this important legal tool is still little known and little understood. I wanted to change that here in Merseyside, so that all the agencies involved in the process know how it should be used and feel confident promoting it to victims in their area.
“Anti-social behaviour is often, wrongly, viewed as ‘low-level’, but for victims who are repeatedly and persistently targeted it can have a hugely damaging effect, leaving people too scared to leave their front door and even afraid while they are inside their own home. It causes fear, stress, anxiety, depression. People who are subjected to this type of treatment deserve to get help and, if it isn’t forthcoming, they deserve to know why.
“I hope by running this training event today, more people will be able to come forward and get answers promptly and proactively. Crucially, I hope it will give more victims the confidence to come forward if they are suffering.”
ASB Helps’ Rebecca Brown said: “The community trigger is an essential mechanism for both victims and practitioners. It enables victims to use their voice and explain clearly the harm being caused to them and give their opinion on what a resolution would look like. For practitioners, it gives them back some control to raise the profile of a case and collaborate with community stakeholders to create an action plan to resolve it.”
Organisations were also invited to take ‘The ASB pledge’ – a six-point commitment which asks agencies to promote awareness of the Community Trigger, ensure their process is accessible and inclusive and puts the victim first
In the media: Discussing noise complaints and neighbour disputes
ASB Help are featured in this weeks Scottish Sunday Express, discussing the significant increase in noise complaints, neighbour disputes and public nuisance calls. ASB Help reported an increase in complaints of 25%-300% across the board, with most of these related to noise.
Read the full article here - Scottish Sunday Express article
Our website also contains lots of information and advice regarding noise and neighbour disputes.
A good example of practitioners using the Community Trigger...
ASB Help are very proud of PS Wyn Jones of Northamptonshire Police for being the first police officer we know of to activate the Community Trigger for a case of anti-social behaviour in his area. PS Jones recognised the benefits of the Community Trigger and by invoking it himself, the case is being managed collaboratively by every partner agency in the area promptly and proactively. Be ahead of the curve and follow in the footsteps of PS Jones.
Join our ASB Pledge here
Learn more about the Community Trigger here
Be part of our ASB Pledge!
Thank you Solihull Community Housing for hosting me this week to talk to you about the PLEDGE. Very encouraging that we have so many partners wanting to take the PLEDGE and work with ASB Help on promoting the voice of victim’s of anti-social behaviour. Particular thanks to Victim Support in Plymouth, Hyde Housing, Sheffield City Council, Leicestershire Police, Stoke City Council and Surrey Police….Be part of this campaign and get in touch with ASB Help today to find out more about how we can help you to deliver the best service to your residents.
You can find out more information on the Pledge here
A Pilkington Malaise? Have We Really Learnt the Lessons for 2020?
We talk a lot about the deaths of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Francecca Hardwick; how their legacy informed the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and as a cautionary tale to practitioners. But have we really understood the lessons from the Pilkington tragedy and how to apply them in 2020?
‘I am sick of hearing about Fiona Pilkington’. This was a comment I overhead a practitioner mutter during a training session on safeguarding. I was stunned and appalled by the comment. But when I thought about it more, I realised an unintended consequence of the Pilkington case, as a case study for practitioners, is that it represents a big stick: if you fail in your duties you could be the focus of a serious case review. I wonder if a combination of the Pilkington name, the shame it brought on all those involved and the threat of professional disgrace has created a toxic combination of Pilkington malaise; a sense that if we don’t cover our back, we could be compelled to attend the Coroner’s Court and lose our jobs. If that is the case, it signals a culture of working to preserve reputation rather than in the best interests of victims. By virtue, the lessons we should have learnt are being obscured by a fear that is motivating our interactions with victims to mitigate against reputational damage rather than to find resolution for victims of anti-social behaviour.
It is easy to see how the legacy of austerity, an increase in anti-social behaviour and the inter-dependency on other agencies to do their part, often reluctantly, means practitioners are finding it difficult to manage their caseload, let alone really look and understand how anti-social behaviour is affecting victims.
Last week I visited the street where Fiona Pilkington lived with her family. I made this visit with practitioner eyes; expecting to see the tell-tale signs of deprivation, social exclusion and the imprint of anti-social residents; graffiti, neglected gardens, rubbish and abandoned vehicles. What I found took me by surprise, because Bardon Road is a nice street. It looks and feels nice. It appeared to me that the potential of this street has been unlocked; residents are investing in their homes and making improvements to them. It was difficult to reconcile what I saw and what I know about what happened there 13 years ago.
The visit to Bardon Road was a valuable learning opportunity. It reminded me that managing anti-social behaviour is never what you expect it to be. We naturally form judgements and sometimes these are arbitrary. I considered how many practitioners assumed Fiona Pilkington lived in a local authority property when in fact she owned her own home? I could see how that dimension alone could have influenced how her case was approached by practitioners.
After my visit to Bardon Road, I spoke with victims who have contacted ASB Help or the Victim’s Commissioner for advice because they feel agencies are not helping them to bring an end to the anti-social behaviour they are experiencing. When I listened to the victim’s accounts, I heard the echoes of the Fiona Pilkington serious case review. Multiple calls to the Police, different officers attending, the occasional verbal or harassment warning to the perpetrator, letters to MP’s and that all-encompassing despair felt by victims and their family members daily.
In the cases I have heard, just in the last two weeks, I question if any lessons have been learnt from the Pilkington tragedy. In every case I listened to, I could identify multiple interventions that either the Police, Local Authority or Landlord could utilise from the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. But none of these interventions have even been discussed and the only consistent theme is the issuing of a verbal or harassment warning, just as in the case of Fiona Pilkington. And is this intervention designed to help the victim or to enable the practitioner to evidence they have made a positive intervention? Are they just covering their backs? Or are these practitioners encountering a professional despair? Working in a system that is broken, resource deprived and set in its ways of viewing anti-social behaviour as a secondary issue to crime? If the Pilkington case should tell us anything, it is that the harm caused by anti-social behaviour is real and it destroys lives, like any crime has the potential to do.
How can we apply the legacy of the Pilkington case in managing anti-social behaviour today?
- The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 gave practitioners tools that are not being used to full effect. We must remember these tools came into existence because they were identified as necessary in part because of the Pilkington case. Our work with Police Forces and Local Authorities shows us there is a reluctance to use civil powers to manage anti-social behaviour for multiple reasons; a criminal law mindset, the costs associated with legal action, the potential for reputational damage should a legal intervention be challenged, a reluctance to work collaboratively with other agencies to share the cost and risk of using the tools available. WE MUST EMBRACE THE TOOLKIT WE HAVE.
- Anti-Social Behaviour is about understanding and managing the many dimensions of human behaviour which has been influenced by a multitude of factors including trauma, dependency and mental health concerns. To find a solution to most cases, we must work creatively and collaboratively. This means embarking on a cultural shift that enables practitioners to work holistically and take risks. How many Police Forces have even applied for a Part 1 Civil Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction?
- If you truly want to put victims first, practitioners must be prepared to challenge the consensus. Most practitioners want to do the right thing for the victim, and they come unstuck because partner agencies are unwilling to work collaboratively. In these cases, practitioners can advise victims to invoke the Community Trigger to request a review of their case or A PRACTITIONER CAN INVOKE THE COMMUNITY TRIGGER ON BEHALF OF THE VICTIM.
- Organisations should embrace the benefits of the Community Trigger rather than view it as a bad thing. The process is not about apportioning blame. It is about working with every stakeholder to find a resolution for the victim and mitigate against an escalation. IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PERFORM YOUR MORAL AND LEGAL DUTY WITHIN YOUR COMMUNITY.
- A vital lesson from the Pilkington case is that we must make it easy for victims to be heard. We should all bear the responsibility of showing victims that they have the right to be heard and the Community Trigger is their statutory right to request that. Crucially, we must not treat each incident in isolation and fail to appreciate the cumulative impact on the victim. This was highlighted in the Pilkington serious case review but my interaction with victims recently shows a reluctance to join the dots.
- All agencies should be proactive in establishing a pathway to support victims from the outset of their complaints about anti-social behaviour. The Pilkington case review shows us that determining a victim’s vulnerability cannot be adduced correctly from a five-minute visit to an address and based on the persons appearance and responses during that short interaction. Victims must be afforded the time and opportunity to speak with someone supportively about how the anti-social behaviour is affecting them and their family.
- We must be embedded in our communities and foster a spirit of vigilance so that residents can speak on behalf of victims and be listened to. My recent visit to Bardon Road shows how easy it is to form an incorrect opinion based on what a place looks like. We know from the serious case review that officers deployed resources to a different area because the anti-social behaviour on Bardon Road appeared insignificant compared to other streets where the traditional tell tales signs were unavoidable. Anti-social behaviour is nuanced and arguably more so today with the emergence of sophisticated organised crime groups. We must all be prepared to scratch the surface, ask questions, be present on a street and work with partners to gather and share intelligence. Only that way can an objective assessment of a case be made, and the victims be seen and heard.
There will be new practitioners entering the work-place in 2020 who have never heard the name Fiona Pilkington. There will be experienced practitioners who hear the name Fiona Pilkington and give a sigh because they have caught the Pilkington malaise. WE MUST NOT LET THIS HAPPEN. We all have a responsibility to learn the lessons and consolidate them by applying them to anti-social behaviour trends in 2020.
You can read the serious case review here
You can read about the Community Trigger and our new ASB Help PLEDGE on our website
Contact us here
Police Distance
My last blog was about the Switchboard Stress of trying to contact local councils to find out some information about the Community Trigger. A member of the public commented on the post on our Facebook page that they had been one of the people I was concerned about: trying to activate a Community Trigger through the telephone number given, only to find it was the council's main switchboard and no-one knew what it was or who to put her through to!!
In the interest of a balanced argument, I want to follow this up with a blog about the distance we now feel from the police. I have documented before how calling the 101 number to activate a Community Trigger can be just as frustrating as a council switchboard. Why? The same reason - the staff officer answering the call does not know what the Community Trigger (or ASB Case Review) is!
Faceless Organisations
I believe there is a real problem when an organisation distances itself and essentially becomes faceless. We suffer from council and police distance - perhaps it is more common with the council, but we are used to being able to talk to the police aren't we? When I was overseas once, I lost my passport. I went to the local police station in a small town and was able to immediately report the missing passport (essential if I was to get an emergency one processed by the Embassy). I could not do that today in my home city as the local police station has very limited opening hours and outside of those no-one answers the doorbell (I suspect it doesn't work). Once a police car pulled up whilst I was looking to report something and the officer told me I could not report it to her because she didn't actually work there.
We know there are less bobbies on the beat and more stations are closed. So if it is not an emergency the 101 number becomes the main and sometimes only way to talk to the police. That would be particularly true for the house-bound, the sick, those with disabilities or scared to leave their home because of the anti-social behaviour of their neighbours.
The 101 Number
I make a lot of different phone calls and yet the only one I get billed for, which is not covered by my unlimited minutes, is when I need to make a call to the police's non-emergency 101 number. I personally think that is bizarre. If the police wants to minimise people wrongly using the free 999 emergency number, it might be a good start to make its alternative free! I can call a council anywhere in the country, I can call my bank and people on other mobile networks to me free of charge, but I cannot call the police. This immediately puts up a layer of police distance.
Cost aside, an important article about Crimestoppers caught my eye last month about why more people are using this free, anonymous service to report crime and anti-social behaviour. There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that some people find it very difficult to talk to the police directly. The simpler reporting process that Crimestoppers offers is also significant. Then the article cites the fact that people have problems reaching the police non-emergency number, 101.
"There is in some parts of the country an element of frustration with 101," says Mr Hallas, Crimestoppers CEO. "They know if they call us they will be answered pretty quickly."
The issues are well known and it was referenced in a Westminster Hall discussion on anti-social behaviour in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle stated that:
"I am sure she is as aware as I am of the number of dropped calls to the 101 service and the number of incidents that actually get reported. If she goes out and talks to people in the community, she will find that most of them never even bother ringing 101 to report antisocial behaviour, because they know they may be on hold for more than 40 minutes."
A BBC article in August gives further evidence of this for people in Wales with a staggering 135,389 of calls being abandoned or redirected last year.
Getting Someone to Act
In that same debate, I was delighted to see that the Minister responsible for anti-social behaviour, Victoria Atkins, highlighted the Community Trigger as follows:
"If I may, I will let the hon. Lady know about the ability of victims of antisocial behaviour, or someone acting on their behalf, including a Member of Parliament, to request a formal antisocial behaviour case review - I do not know whether she is aware of this - which is called a "community trigger". I like talking about it, because colleagues should be aware of it and they can use it if requested by their constituents. It enables victims of antisocial behaviour to ensure that their voice is heard when they believe they have not had a satisfactory response to repeated complaints of antisocial behaviour, and it forces agencies to act. The relevant bodies in a local area must agree on and publish their case review procedures. Therefore, if she believes that the relevant agencies in her constituency, have not acted on reports of antisocial behaviour in Hull and East Riding, that is a possible solution for her constituents."
However, let's just reflect on both this blog and my Switchboard Stress blog. Ms Atkins, I am sorry to say that some people can only activate their Community Trigger by calling 101 - that same number which some people have despaired of calling. Others have the option of calling their local council and getting lost in the deliberations of a switchboard operator who has no idea what they are talking about. Or there might be an unwieldy online form. A victim of persistent anti-social behaviour should not need to jump through so many hoops to shout out for help. Come on public servants - there is a real opportunity here to choose to NOT be a faceless organisation, reduce that police distance and let people who are suffering have access to help.
Is this not common sense? I have no idea why police websites do not give an email address to relieve pressure on their 101 number, nor why Community Trigger webpages can't give a direct line number rather than switchboard. The Community Trigger is for people who feel they have nowhere to turn, who need help and are desperate. It is so unfair to set them up like this and create such distance. Is it any wonder people give up?
And what is the risk of a victim of persistent anti-social behaviour giving up on reporting it and feeling like there is nowhere to turn? At one end of the scale, suicide like we saw with Fiona Pilkington. At the other end of the scale, a victim taking matters into their own hands and committing a crime in their desperation to stop the anti-social behaviour. In the 21st century when thanks to technology and the internet, we are more connected than ever, how is it that police distance is only widening?
