Anti-social behaviour

What is anti-social behaviour?

Anti-social behaviour is described as 'acting in a way that causes or is likely to cause alarm, harassment and distress (upset) to one or more people who are not part of the same household'.

Most types of anti-social behaviour fit into one of three categories – street problems, nuisance neighbours or environmental crime.

Street problems

• Intimidating others
• Being drunk
• Begging
• Drug dealing in public
• Street prostitution
• Kerb-crawling
• Nuisance neighbours
• Abusing, bullying or intimidating neighbours

Environmental crime

• Fly-tipping (illegally dumping rubbish)
• Dropping litter
• Graffiti
• Vandalism (damaging private property or shared facilities such as phone boxes or playground equipment)

Some of these problems, such as vandalism and drug dealing, although often seen as anti-social behaviour are, in fact, criminal offences.

Where can I get help?

Serious and criminal behaviour

You should report things that are serious and against the law to the police. This includes things such as:

• Criminal damage, such as damage to property
• Vandalism
• Making threats of violence or being violent
• Graffiti (contact the council to get this removed)
• Drug dealing
• Dangerous dogs
• Harassment, including racial harassment
• Public disturbances, such as fighting

You can contact Derbyshire Constabulary by phoning their non-emergency number on 101.

If it’s an emergency, you should always phone 999. An emergency is when:

• Someone’s life is in danger, for example in a car crash when people in the car need help
• There’s a risk that someone could seriously hurt themselves or somebody else, for example you might see somebody threatening somebody else with a knife
• A crime is happening or is about to happen, for example you may see someone breaking into a house or someone driving a car after drinking alcohol or taking drugs

The following issues types of issues can be reported to the council:

• Abandoned vehicles
• Dog mess or stray dogs
• Environmental health problems (eg build-up of rubbish, unpleasant smells, smoke from burning materials, buildings in an unacceptable condition, etc)
• Fly-tipping
• Graffiti and flyposting
• Litter
• Noise nuisance
• Parking issues (if the nuisance is caused by parking on double lines)
• Problems with pubs and other premises licensed to sell alcohol

Nuisance neighbours

Nuisance that includes criminal behaviour, such as damage to property or threats of violence, should be reported to the police on 101. In an emergency, phone 999.

If you, or your neighbour, rent your home from a registered social landlord, such as High Peak Community Housing, you can also contact them for support as well as reporting incidents to the police.  The housing provider will check whether your neighbour has broken any conditions in their tenancy agreement.  If you rent from a private landlord, you can also tell them about any problems.

You can report other problems with nuisance neighbours to the council.

Acceptable behaviour contracts

An Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC), also known as an acceptable behaviour agreement, is an intervention designed to engage the individual in recognising their behaviour and its negative effects on others, in order to stop the offending behaviour.

An ABC is a written agreement between an anti-social behaviour perpetrator and their local authority, Youth Inclusion Support Panel, landlord or the police.

ABCs are usually used for young people but can also be used for adults.

The ABC consists of a list of anti-social acts that the offender agrees not to continue and outlines the consequences if the contract is breached. Contracts usually last for six months but can be renewed if both parties agree.

ABCs are not legally binding, but can be cited in court as evidence in ASBO applications or in eviction or possession proceedings.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are court orders which forbid specific threatening or intimidating actions.

An ASBO can ban a person from:

• threatening, intimidating or disruptive actions
• spending time with a particular group of friends
• visiting certain areas

ASBOs are in effect for a minimum of two years, and can be longer. They are designed to protect specific victims, neighbours, or even whole communities from behaviour that has frightened or intimidated them, or damaged their quality of life.

These are civil orders - not criminal penalties – so they won’t appear on a suspect's criminal record. However, if that person breaches an ASBO, they have committed a criminal offence, which is punishable by a fine or up to five years in prison.

Dispersal Orders

Section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 contains powers to disperse groups of two or more people. If they return to the same place within 24 hours they can be arrested and prosecuted. It also allows the police to return a young person home if they are under 16-years-old and unsupervised in a public place after 9pm.

The law applies if a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the presence or behaviour of a group has resulted, or is likely to result, in any member of the public being intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed. The legislation applies to groups of two or more persons in a specific location in an area where anti-social behaviour is a significant and persistent problem. The Section 30 order is discretionary and will be used to disperse groups causing problems.

There is currently a Dispersal Order in place around the station road area of Hadfield to address ongoing anti-social behaviour issues. Please scroll down to see the map.

Hate Crime is wrong

If it happens to you, or you see it happen, please report it.

Hate incidents can have a very bad effect on people’s lives and society in general. They can cause great personal harm and damage to community relations. The Council is committed to ensuring good relations between all people within the borough. To make certain that the Council plays an active and prominent role in monitoring and reducing hate incidents, we have developed a reporting system that will help us deliver a consistent professional approach to reduce and eliminate this often hidden problem.

What is a hate incident?

A hate incident is any incident committed against a person or property that the victim or any other person believes is motivated by the offender’s hate against people because of their race, sexuality, disability, religion, age or gender. Examples include verbal abuse, vandalism or damage to property or physical violence.

Some hate incidents will be criminal offences. If you contact us with details of an incident we will refer the information to the appropriate authority, including the Police who can take the necessary action. Please contact our customer services team using call high peak on 01298 28400.

Stop Hate UK

You may also call the national Stop Hate UK 24-hour helpline FREE on 0800 138 1625 to report a hate incident or seek support for individuals and communities affected by hate crime. Visit the Stop Hate UK website for more details.

Procedure for Reporting Hate Incidents

If you report a hate incident we will follow the process shown in the chart below. If you are a tenant of High Peak Community Housing we will involve the reporting officer for High Peak Community Housing with your consent.