Reporting Anti-Social Behaviour
What Anti-Social Behaviour is
Anti-social behaviour is
"……acting in a manner that caused or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people not of the same household", and as "…..behaviour that unreasonably interferes with other people's rights to use their home and community".
Therefore before complaining to us ask yourself if your complaint passes this test. The usual types of anti-social behaviour we investigate are vandalism, graffiti, alcohol and drug misuse, noise, neighbour disputes, intimidation and harassment, racial abuse, youth nuisance, littering and rubbish dumping, abandoned cars and vehicle nuisance.
What You Can Do
Have you spoken to the person causing you distress? Often this person may not realise the effect they are having on your enjoyment of your home or neighbourhood. The first step is to speak to them and explain how their behaviour is impacting upon your life. If you are speaking to someone:
- Do keep calm and do not raise your voice even if they do.
- Do define your problem and suggest workable solutions.
- Do allow the other party to respond and put their point of view.
- Do agree a course of action and review its progress.
- Do not make unfounded allegations.
- Do not make threats or swear and do not retaliate.
However, you must not speak to someone who you believe to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or mentally unstable. Do not approach a gang of people of any age, call the police if their behaviour warrants it. If the problems persist contact us, ideally in writing and we will try to help or offer you the appropriate advice.
How Our Team Will Address Your Complaint
To qualify for our intervention your complaint must meet certain criteria, and once accepted we will investigate. At the time of your complaint we will treat it seriously but at this stage it remains only an allegation without any evidence to support it. After your initial complaint we may write to the person causing the problem, (if known) and advise them that we have received a complaint and are investigating it.
To understand how often and how bad the problem can be for you we will send you some diary sheets on which to log occurrences of anti-social behaviour. When they are returned to us we will identify the issues and determine the course of action needed. We may also contact Poole's other agencies to see if they can offer help or advice.
Will I Be Identified As The Complainant?
No. Not unless you have agreed to it or have agreed to attend court to give evidence, should the case progress that far. We will endeavour to keep your identity secret from the alleged perpetrator. However in some cases the people you have complained about may suspect it is you. If they contact you, remain calm and do not enter into discussion, if you feel in danger of harm you must telephone the police immediately, and also inform the Council Officer with whom you are dealing. We will make every effort to support you if you have a valid complaint.
Gathering Evidence
If we accept you have just cause for complaint we will spend as much time as is necessary gathering evidence to support your complaint. We may speak to your neighbours, the police, youth workers, housing officers, persons causing the problem or their parents if they are juveniles or even consult with the wider community.
We cannot say how long the investigation will continue or promise an outcome satisfactory to all parties, this will be influenced by the available evidence, costs and the willingness of others to speak out. Throughout the life of the complaint we will keep you informed of progress and any decisions we make to close the case. In some cases a resolution may be beyond the ability or scope of the Council.
Action That Can Be Taken Against The Perpetrator
If the evidence is unsubstantial and not corroborated by others we may not be able to take any action other than have a word with the alleged perpetrator/s.
If the evidence is more substantial we may ask a partner agency to intervene who has more appropriate powers, this could be the Police, Consumer Protection or your landlord. In these instances we may support them through the process.
In the case of young people we would alert Poole's Youth Service and even Social Services if the person is deemed vulnerable. In the most severe cases criminal or civil proceedings may be brought resulting in the award of fines, evictions, Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and Injunctions. Please refer to our information on what we can do to stop anti-social behaviour.
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