Antisocial behaviour (ASB) is any act that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to someone.
Any behaviour that makes you feel unsafe or you feel may make others unsafe. This covers a wide range but can include:
- drug related ASB (drug use, dealing)
- youth related ASB
- threatening behaviour, verbal and physical threats and abuse
- vandalism and property damage
- using a property to sell drugs or for any other illegal activity
- harassment including incidents based on race, gender, religion, disability, or sexual orientation
What is not antisocial behaviour
ASB can be difficult to define, and although annoying, there are some types of behaviour that are not classed as antisocial:
- children playing in the street or communal areas, unless they are causing damage to property
- young people gathering socially, unless they are rowdy, inconsiderate and being intimidating to individuals
- being unable to park outside your own home
- DIY and off road car repairs, unless these are taking place late at night or early in the morning
- disagreements about boundary walls, fences and parking
- cooking smells
- noise from opening and closing cupboards
- noisy household appliances
Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs)
ASBOs are civil orders made by a court which prohibit the perpetrator from specific antisocial acts and from entering defined areas on a map (exclusion zones).
An order lasts for a minimum of 2 years.
The purpose of an ASBO is to protect the public from behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment or alarm or distress, not simply to punish the perpetrator.
A community-based order involves local people in collecting evidence and helping to enforce breaches of the prohibitions in the order.
The orders are designed to encourage local communities to become actively involved in reporting crime and ASB, helping to build and protect the community of which they are part.
Collecting evidence
In order to build a case you should:
- inform the safer communities team of your complaint. All complaints are recorded and assessed and will be dealt with once further researched
- keep a diary of events
- if a crime is in progress, call the police
- use residents association or your local housing officer to report incidents, also to local elected members
Police and community safety officers check databases to build up a picture of nuisance, and then passed to legal teams to decide whether to take action or not.
