Antisocial behaviour tools and powers

Anti-social behaviour is a varied term that is used to describe the daily incidents of crime, nuisances and disorder that can make many people’s lives a misery this can vary from littering and vandalism to public drunkenness or aggressive dogs, to noisy or abusive neighbours.

With a wide range of behaviours this means that the responsibility for dealing with anti-social behaviour is shared between different agencies like the police, councils and social landlords. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes new measures which are designed to give victims and communities a say in the way anti-social behaviour is dealt with:-

1. The Community Trigger gives victims the ability to demand action, starting with a review of their case, where the threshold is met.

 Victims will be able to use Community Trigger to demand a review of their case. The agencies involved will have to undertake a case review when a victim requests one and then also when the case meets the threshold.

The Community Trigger can be also used on behalf of a victim for example a family member, friend, carer or neighbour. This makes sure that all victims are able to get the help they need, Even if they don’t think they need it. If someone has applied for a Community Trigger the victim’s behalf the victim should give their consent.

The community Trigger can be applied for by a person of any age and agencies should make it accessible for all victims.

The threshold must be no higher than three complaints of anti-social behaviour in a

six months period. Where a person makes an application for a case review and the

number of qualifying complaints has been made, the threshold review is met.

2. The Community Remedy gives victims a say in the punishment out of court for the perpetrators for low-level crime and anti-social behaviour.

The Purpose of Community Remedy is to give victims a say on the action for perpetrators of low-level crime. The community remedy will be used as part of the existing process for delivering community resolutions.

3. Civil Injunction is used to prevent individuals from engaging in anti-social Behaviour.

The injunction under part 1 of the Anti-social behaviour, crime and policing act 2014

is a power which can be applied for to deal with anti-social individuals. The injunction

can be affective for victims and also sets a standard for behaviour for perpetrators,

stopping the person’s behaviour from escalating.

4. Criminal Behaviour Order is issued by any criminal court.

The Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) is available on conviction for any criminal offence in any criminal court.it is aimed at tackling more serious offenders where there behaviour has brought them before a criminal court.

5. Dispersal Power is used to disperse individuals from an area for up to 48 hours.

The purpose of the dispersal power is so that the police can use it in a rage of ways

to disperse anti-social individuals to provide immediate action and it also allows officer to deal with someone behaviour immediately.

In an area where there are a lot of incidents of anti-social behaviour then the police should work with the local council.

6. Community Protection Notice is used to stop anti-social behaviour immediately.

The Community Protection Notice is designed to deal with certain ongoing problems or nuisances in the community by targeting those responsible. In many areas councils are taking the lead on dealing with these kinds of issues and they will start to work more closely with the police.

7. Public Spaces Protection Order is used to stop individuals or groups.

Designed to stop individuals or groups committing anti-social behaviour.

PSPO’s are intended to deal with nuisance or problems in a certain area by applying conditions to the area which will apply to everyone. They are there to ensure that the area is safe from anti-social behaviour.

8. Closure power is used to allow the police or council to close premises quickly.

The closure power is a fast, Flexible power that can be used to protect victims and

communities by quickly closing premises that are causing a nuisance or disorder to

the community.

9. New absolute ground for possession is used to assist landlords to evict tenants.

The purpose for the new ground for possession is to speed up possession processes in cases where anti-social behaviour has already been proven in another court as the landlord no longer needs to prove that it is reasonable to grant possession, the court will be more likely to determine cases in a single short hearing.