Tackling anti-social behaviour

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.

What you can do?

If anti-social behaviour is a problem in your area, you can:

talk to your local Community Safety Partnership Manager who can help you tackle the problem
report anti-social behaviour incidents to your local police, Housing Executive or council
get involved to help prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour when it does occur
be a witness to support legal action and stop anti-social behaviour by getting court orders

If you are a witness, in some cases your identity can be withheld.

Find your local council

Anti-Social Behaviour Order

An Anti-Social Behaviour Order, also known as an ASBO, is a civil court order applied for by the police, councils or Housing Executive. The criminal courts may also make an ASBO in addition to a sentence or conditional discharge where an individual is convicted of a criminal offence. 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.

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.ASBOs protect the public from further anti-social behaviour by an individual rather than punish the person.

If someone with an ASBO adheres to its terms there are no further consequences. If someone with an ASBO breaches any of the terms of the order it is a criminal offence. An ASBO provides a clear and enforceable boundary on what is acceptable behaviour, with clear consequences for breaking the order. 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.

An ASBO may be made on any person aged 10 or over who has acted in an anti-social manner.

An ASBO lists what a person must not continue to do: writing graffiti, kerb crawling, verbally abusing other people, throwing missiles; the order may also prohibit the individual from entering specified areas where they have acted anti-socially, or prohibit the individual from associating with named persons with whom they have acted in an anti-social manner or from gathering in groups.

They do not punish for past behaviour, they prohibit that behaviour from continuing in the future in order to protect those who have suffered from it, and to give the individual with the order the opportunity to break the pattern of their anti-social behaviour.

Acceptable Behaviour Contract

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.