Anti-social behaviour 'nightmare' ignored
A new report, "Anti-Social Behaviour: Living a Nightmare" was released today (30/04/2019) by the Victims Commissioner, in partnership with ASB Help and Nottingham Trent University. The report has shown that Anti-Social Behaviour is being ignored by authorities in England and Wales.
The Victims Commissioner, Baroness Newlove, stated that victims who were being repeatedly targeted were left to "suffer in silence". She added that the feedback from victims has been that they feel they are being persistently targeted by perpetrators, yet persistently ignored by those in power also. Baroness Newlove added that it was "infuriating" that Anti-Social Behaviour was referred to as low-level crime, something that often dismisses the effect it has on its victims. The report states that anti-social behaviour can cause "immense distress and suffering" to victims, having negative effects on their mental health, sleep, work and relationships.
Police chiefs and the Local Government Association said they took anti-social behaviour "seriously", but admit that their resources are under strain and more funding is needed if they are to tackle the problem effectively.
Written in partnership with Nottingham Trent University and charity ASB Help, the commissioner's report says victims of anti-social behaviour are passed between agencies and face lengthy delays when calling the 101 police non-emergency number.
It also found that a mechanism known as the "community trigger", which allows victims to require agencies to review the response to the anti-social behaviour they reported, was "largely unknown".
Jenny Herrera, from ASB Help, said there were fundamental problems with the mechanism and called for central government to intervene to ensure it was "fit for purpose".
The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 37% of adult respondents experienced or witnessed anti-social behaviour in their local area last year, the highest proportion since the question was first asked in 2011-12.
But separate figures show around 1.4 million incidents of anti-social behaviour were recorded by police in 2018, a 16% fall on the previous 12 months.
The Home Office welcomed the Victims' Commissioner's report and said it would consider the recommendations "carefully". "The government is committed to tackling anti-social behaviour and ensuring victims get the response they deserve," it said.
National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Anti-Social Behaviour, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, said the police were "only one part of the solution" and they were working with local authorities and other agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour.
"Forces are under increasing strain as they deal with rising crime, demand that is more complex and a raised terror threat with fewer officers," he continued.
"Further long-term funding is needed and we are working with the Home Office and police and crime commissioners to make the case at the next spending review."
The Local Government Association said: "Councils know people look to them to tackle the anti-social behaviour, which can make a law-abiding resident's life hell or blight an entire neighbourhood.
"It's a role they take extremely seriously but one which is being made increasingly challenging as a result of losing 60p out of every £1 they had from government to spend on services in the past decade."
Read the full report here: https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/victcomm2-prod-storage-119w3o4kq2z48/uploads/2019/04/ASB-report.pdf
Livestream feed from the launch can be seen through Twitter here: https://twitter.com/csjthinktank/status/1123268300765630465
Have you been a victim of Anti-Social Behaviour? Our website has pages of advice and links to local agencies to try and help resolve your situation. You can also contact us using the contact form for further help and advice.
Housing Associations and the Community Trigger
Much of our work on the Community Trigger has focused on councils and police, mainly because they represent the lead agency across England and Wales. However, housing associations are a key player in Community Safety and named as one of the relevant bodies in the Community Trigger legislation. What are housing associations doing to promote it then?
Large Housing Associations
A sample of the really large housing associations brought in disappointing results. All of the following have no information on the Community Trigger (also called the ASB Case Review):
- London and Quadrant Housing
- Clarion Housing
- Home Group Housing
- Sanctuary Housing
- Guinness Partnership
- Riverside Housing
- Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (2 separate websites)
Clarion Housing claims on its website to be the largest housing association in the country, owning and managing 125,000 homes over 170 local authorities, representing 360,000. That is 360,000 tenants who are not being informed about the Community Trigger. Housing association websites direct people to the police for some types of anti-social behaviour but miss an opportunity to let their tenants know what to do if the police do nothing about it (or the council or indeed the housing association itself). This is concerning.
Locally Led
Some housing associations tell me they cannot put information on the Community Trigger on their website because they have houses in more than one local authority area and of course the way it is activated differs from one area to another. There are some easy ways around this:
Regenda Housing give information about the Community Trigger and a link to the government website to find your nearest local authority. Unfortunately this will fall down at the last hurdle because where the police is the lead agency, the local council tends not to publish any information about the Trigger.
A much better way can be seen in One Housing who have been wonderfully proactive in setting up a specific Community Trigger email address for victims, explaining that they will then forward it onto the relevant local authority. Some lead agencies don't even bother setting up a specific email address or giving a direct telephone number so this is impressive from One Housing.
An alternative would be to link into our Community Trigger Directory so that victims can easily search for their local area and find the exact page they need on the council or police website. It is important that all tenants of registered providers of social housing know that this safety net is available to them. We encourage all housing associations to look at adding this important information to their website. Don't forget housing associations can also activate a Community Trigger on the victim's behalf to push a case review and get something done about the anti-social behaviour.
Good Initiatives; On the beat and getting results:
Many people call for visible police patrols in their local community to try and improve community safety. In Weymouth, two uniformed officers have been doing exactly that.
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council worked with Dorset police, British Transport Police, Dorset County Council and the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner to set up Community Safety Accreditation Scheme, which employed specially trained officers to help reduce Anti-Social Behaviour. The training issued was thorough and included security checks, body armour and training to enable them to carry out police and council enforcement powers, such as enforcing the Public Space Protection Order. The Public Space Protection Order gives officers certain powers such as being able to place restrictions on individuals that persistently commit anti-social behaviour.
Since January 2019, the officers have issued 27 verbal warnings, 7 Community Protection notices, 3 alcohol seizes and removed 7 lots of abandoned property.
Kat and Sam, the two patrol officers working on this initiative say that everyday is different, with them encouraging people to come up to them and “talk to us, especially if anything has made you feel unsafe”. They added that they are “building up a good rapport with local people, traders and the homeless community. We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour”. In addition to anti-social behaviour, they also see people who are in crisis or suffering from mental health problems, and they help them to find the services they need.
With ongoing problems across the country with the 101 number it has become very difficult for people to raise issues of anti-social behaviour. The constant presence of Kat and Sam makes a huge difference in bridging the gap between large agencies like the police and council, and individual victims. Sometimes victims are not sure who to talk to, or how bad the behaviour really is, or what can be done about it. Seeking out Kat and Sam to ask these questions is a great bonus for the people of Weymouth and something we would love to see happen elsewhere. It is also great to have the continuity of the same officers who gave a notice or order, be the ones to witness any potential breach and take the necessary action.
It is clear more visible patrols work, as the officers can work with numerous different agencies in order to get a variety of training and skills, build a rapport with local members of the Community and take a proactive approach to dealing with Community Safety.
Read the article here: https://www.wessexfm.com/news/dorset-news/2840142/on-the-beat-and-getting-results/
See our page on Excellent nitiatives for more examples of local community initiatives which have helped improve community safety and anti-social behaviour.
Stalking Protection Orders – a step in the right direction to tackle stalking within the United Kingdom:
Harassment can be defined as: “the act of systematic and/or continued, unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group, including threats and demands”.
There are many types of anti-social behaviour within the category of harassment, with one of them being stalking.
Stalking can be defined as unwanted or obsessive attention by an individual or group. The Crime Survey for England and Wales reports that 1 in 5 women and nearly 1 in 10 men aged 16-59 have been victims of stalking since the age of 16.
The Stalking Protection Bill has been developed in 2019 to introduce Stalking Protection Orders, which are civil orders that police can apply to enable them to tackle stranger stalking quicker and more effectively. This bill has been developed by the Government and has been given royal assent, in a bid to tackle violence against women and girls in the United Kingdom.
The new stalking protection orders will allow for both restrictions and requirements for perpetrators and will carry a criminal penalty if these are broken. Importantly, the police apply for the order themselves, saving the victim stress and worry at an already traumatic time. The new orders can apply to any case of stalking but is designed specifically for occasions where stalking occurs outside of a domestic abuse context and will allow the courts to ban perpetrators from entering certain locations and contacting the victims. Furthermore, it will also force the perpetrator to seek help, often in the form of a mental health assessment. By addressing the issues of the perpetrator also, it should help to stop re-offending.
In addition to the Stalking Protection Orders, the Home Office has provided £4.1 million to fund the Multi-Agency Stalking Interventions Programme, which aims to improve responses to stalking within the Criminal Justice System. Furthermore, £50,000 a year will be provided to the National Stalking Helpline, ensuring that victims will continue to have someone to contact if they feel in danger or need advice.
Victoria Atkins (Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerabilities) said that the new Stalking Protection Orders will “provide safety and security for victims earlier than ever before”. Furthermore, Baroness Bertin added that the new orders will ensure victims “do not have to wait for prosecution before protection kicks in”.
If you are a victim of stalking, then do not suffer in silence. See our page on Harassment, read our stalking case studies or visit the National Stalking Helpline for more information.