What is anti-social behaviour?
Anti-social behaviour is any intimidating or threatening
activity that scares you or badly affects your quality of life.
Examples include rowdy or noisy behaviour, vandalism, graffiti,
fly-tipping rubbish, aggressive begging, street drinking, or even
setting off fireworks late at night.
People loitering on the street waiting for drug dealers can also
be perceived as anti-social behaviour. Drug dealing is a crime –
but sometimes it’s first reported as anti-social behaviour. Such
threatening behaviour causes alarm and distress for the people it
affects, and that is why it is vitally important that it is dealt
with. We want communities to feel safer.
Cheshire is a safe place to live and work, but we need to work
with you, the public we serve, to keep it that way.
Not all anti-social behaviour issues are solved by police -
other agencies including the Police Authority, local councils and
housing authorities have a big role to play, which is why we work
together to tackle them. Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
are in place to ensure your problems and concerns about anti-social
behaviour are heard and tackled in your area.
Due to the work we have already done, the residents of Cheshire
are feeling more confident about reporting anti-social behaviour,
because they believe something will be done.
Why is it a problem?
You might not think that graffiti is anti-social behaviour but
such activity doesn’t just make life unpleasant – it creates an
environment where more serious crime can take hold. When something
has a negative effect on people’s lives, it also creates a climate
of fear.
So we work with other authorities to sort it out.
Working together to prevent anti-social behaviour
Anti-social behaviour hurts everybody involved. Cheshire Police
believes it must be stopped early, before too much damage has been
done.
To help us achieve this, we have a number of tools we can use
such as warning letters, agreements to stop the behaviour, fixed
penalty notices, and can apply to the Courts for Anti-Social
Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). We can also disperse people reported as
behaving in an anti-social way and, if the problem is serious
enough, can arrest them.
Paying the penalty
The police can issue one-off fines to people behaving in an
anti-social manner.
Fixed penalty notices generally deal with environmental offences
such as litter, graffiti, noise, and dog fouling, and can be issued
to anyone over the age of 10 by our Police Community Support
Officers.
Penalty notices for disorder are issued for more serious
offences, such as throwing fireworks, being drunk and disorderly,
petty stealing or damaging property. They can be issued to anyone
over 16 years old. By using penalty notices, police have less
paperwork, meaning they can spend more time out in their
community.
Penalty notices are not the same as criminal convictions, but
failure to pay the fine can result in higher fines or
imprisonment.
Find out more by reading about Anti-Social
Behaviour Orders and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts.
Types of anti-social behaviour
Most types of anti-social behaviour fit into one of three
categories - street problems, nuisance neighbours or environmental
crime. Different agencies lead on different types.
Street problems
Intimidation, drunkenness, begging, public drug dealing, street
prostitution and kerb-crawling are all street problems that fall
under the definition of anti-social behaviour.
In Cheshire, we are leading the way in the battle against
alcohol- related crime with the ArcAngel approach. Working with
partner agencies such as local authorities, businesses and
licensees, the Constabulary is showing local residents that
alcohol-related crime will not be tolerated.
ArcAngel isn't just about locking up the drunks, it is about
changing people's attitudes to alcohol. The Force is working with
young people to explain why alcohol misuse causes so many
problems.
Through ArcAngel, the Constabulary also runs operations in towns
across Cheshire to curb problems, as well as confiscating alcohol
from under-age drinkers. We are working with licensed premises to
make sure their staff know the law and can help stop the
troublemakers before they get out of control.
Many of the ArcAngel ideas have been adopted by other Forces
across the UK.
Nuisance neighbours
Just one or two families can ruin dozens of lives through
threats, intimidation, harassment and vandalism.
Rowdiness, loud music or televisions, and refusing to silence
constantly barking dogs are all hallmarks of nuisance
neighbours.
Neighbours who make too much noise can be fined up to £5,000 or
have noisy equipment removed by local authorities. If problems
continue, housing associations, councils and police can apply for
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, or work together to get tenants
evicted.
Sometimes, what appears to be anti-social behaviour is actually
a crime. This is common with drug manufacture or dealing. While it
may be a case of anti-social behaviour in the first instance,
criminal charges may be brought.
If serious crime such as drug manufacture or dealing is
involved, police can close the property. Several cannabis farms
have been found in Cheshire behind seemingly innocent looking
suburban front doors.
The drug gangs rent a normal house, strip out internal walls and
furniture and fill the building with high-tech hydroponics
equipment. Having a drug farm in your neighbourhood can lead to
dealers and users hanging around. To help combat the drug farms,
the Constabulary has issued guidance on how to spot them - and if
you suspect drug dealers are operating in your area, contact the
police.
Environmental crime
Environmental crime can include littering, graffiti and
vandalism, and can have a huge impact on our communities and how
happy we are in them.