PCSO Liam Palmer, of your local Vale police team, answers your questions.
Q: What is classed as Anti-Social Behaviour?
The definition of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is where someone is acting in a manner that is causing or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, to one or more persons not of the same household as the perpetrator. This definition comes from the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
ASB can take on many forms, including neighbour disputes, intimidating groups in public spaces, vandalism and graffiti, noise, persistent littering, drunkenness, misuse of fireworks and reckless driving of
motorbikes (mini and/or off road).
While some incidents might not look too serious, they can make life very difficult for the victim, who can be on the receiving end of anti-social behaviour for months.
Those experiencing ABS can sometimes find themselves adapting their lifestyle to try and reduce the problem, such as staying home more, avoiding public transport or even moving home to get away from it. It can be hard for other people to understand when they are not living through the situation, and this can make victims feel even more isolated.
Police work closely with local Borough Council ASB teams, using shared recording systems, to tackle incidents of ASB and resolve neighbour disputes.
Who can I contact to report these issues?
If you are experiencing problems with anti-social behaviour you can report these to the police by calling 101. The police will deal with issues such as rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour, neighbour disputes, vehicle nuisance, malicious telephone calls / messages and drug and substance misuse.
If you are a council tenant and you are experiencing ASB, you should report this to the Council Housing Department or to the ASB team directly. You should also contact these departments if you believe a person committing ASB is a council tenant. You can find contact details for your Council Housing Department or the ASB team your Borough Council website.
As your Dedicated Neighbourhood Team in the Vale, we are committed to working with our partners, such as the Borough Councils, to resolve issues of ASB in your area. In order for us to build up a picture of how this affects the area in which you live we encourage you to report any incidents to the relevant agency.
If you have any questions or queries you would like to speak to an officer about, these can be raised at Beat Surgeries across the Vale. Details of these Surgeries can be found on the Leicestershire Police website at www.leics.police.uk.
Alternatively you can email me at liam.palmer@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk or call 101 and when prompted ask to leave a voicemail for 6016.
Remember, concerns that we don’t know of – we can’t act on.