Antisocial behaviour (ASB) can have a huge impact on people and the wider community. Whether it’s one noisy and disruptive neighbour or gang problems affecting a wider neighbourhood the effects can be wide ranging and corrosive. If activity is clearly criminal it puts the offender at risk of prosecution and will usually become a police matter. But low level disruption can be harder to tackle.
Futures works closely with a range of other agencies to help deal with ASB in the communities we house. And this year we introduced a new way of managing cases to help speed things up and make the process clearer for customers and those investigating.
Some of the improvements include:
- More emphasis on managing risks and effective communication with those affected.
- Ensuring that we keep an open mind during investigations rather than making assumptions or jumping to conclusions about who might be a ‘victim’ or a ‘perpetrator’ as situations may be more complicated than they first appear.
- A clear focus on just what the problem behaviour is and on finding solutions.
- Going to see the people and places affected first-hand where possible – which facilitates a quicker and more effective investigation.
- Using a four-option approach focusing on:
- Mediation – to help the parties resolve their differences together with support.
- Advice and signposting to other sources of help.
- Enforcement – taking action where necessary towards a resolution.
- No further action – being clear and stopping our intervention if the investigation doesn’t find a situation that needs our involvement.
This new approach is already delivering benefits such as fewer customer complaints about ASB, more clarity during the investigation and a reduction in the average amount of time to deal with a case from around 60 days to 20.
