Anti-social behaviour includes a range of problems, for example, noisy neighbours, abandoned cars, vandalism, graffiti, litter and intimidating groups. It creates an environment where crime can take hold and affect people's everyday lives. But there are ways to tackle the problem.
If anti-social behaviour is a problem in your area, you can:
If you are a witness, in some cases your identity can be withheld.
An Anti-Social Behaviour Order, also known as an ASBO, is a civil court order applied for by the police, councils or Housing Executive. They cannot be applied for by members of the public, but people do get involved by collecting evidence and by helping to monitor breaches of individual ASBOs.
ASBOs protect the public from further anti-social behaviour by an individual rather than punish the person. They last for a minimum of two years and can ban the individual from repeating the offending behaviour, or prevent them from entering a set area.
Designed with communities in mind to encourage people to get involved in reporting local crime and anti-social behaviour, ASBOs are not criminal penalties so they won't appear on a police record. However, breaching an ASBO is a criminal offence and the punishment for this may be a fine, community order, or even imprisonment.
An Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC) is a written agreement between a person who has been involved in anti-social behaviour and one or more local agencies whose role it is to prevent such behaviour.
ABCs are designed to get individuals to acknowledge their anti-social behaviour and the effect it has on others with the aim of stopping that behaviour at an early stage.
An ABC sets out the types of anti-social acts the person agrees not to continue and outlines the consequences if the Contract is breached. Although designed for young people, ABCs can be used for offenders of any age. Informal and flexible, they can be used for various types of anti-social behaviour. While they aren’t legally binding, they can be referred to in court as evidence in ASBO applications, or in eviction or possession proceedings.
Agencies have a range of other powers available to tackle specific anti-social behaviours.
Crime, justice and the law
