How we deal with nuisance/anti-social behaviour

Your Neighbourhood Officer will  look into your report, take full details and then carry out an investigation. This involves taking detailed statements from you and any witnesses you may have. It may also involve contact with the other party. This should take no longer than 20 working days. However, if we need information from the police or other agencies, it might take longer. We will let you know if there is a delay.

We will respond to cases involving racial harassment, threats or actual violence within one working day – or on the same day if resources permit.

We will acknowledge all other reports of nuisance/ASB in writing or e-mail within 1-5 working days depending on the nature of the report.

All reports of nuisance/ASB are logged on our electronic database to manage the case but also to monitor performance and trends.

We use a straightforward approach to tackling nuisance/ASB, we will:

• investigate the report;
• evaluate the evidence; and
• take appropriate action to resolve the matter.

This initial investigation should take no more than 20 working days depending on the complexity or severity of the report.

Help and support

We can help and support you in a number of ways. We can:

• provide regular contact by telephone or home visit
• refer you to counselling, victim support and witness support services
• arrange translation and interpretation services if English is not your first language
• liaise with appropriate support workers if you are physically or mentally vulnerable
• seek to provide appropriate support if you are hearing-impaired or visually-impaired
• provide free transport to and from investigation meetings, court and other venues
• assist with childcare costs so that you can attend meetings
• consider re-housing you on a temporary or permanent basis (in the most serious ASB cases)
• continue to provide advice and support following court proceedings
• monitor the behaviour of the other party following court proceedings to ensure that any order of the court is kept too
• carry out a “risk assessment” of your home and install appropriate support measures such as CCTV cameras, alarms, extra locks or spy holes in your front door

How you can help us

In many instances, especially those that may involve legal action, we will need your help to build our case against the other party. You may need
to:

• keep a regular diary of events
• allow noise monitoring or video equipment to be installed in your home
• allow professional witnesses, the police and/or MDH staff to use your home for surveillance purposes
• encourage other witnesses to come forward
• report incidents to the police
• attend meetings with other witnesses and with our legal representatives
• attend Court and give evidence to support MDH’s case
• monitor the behaviour of the perpetrator following court proceedings to ensure that any order of the court is kept too

We are committed to reducing ASB in Mid Devon and your help is appreciated.

What we can do

We always try to resolve issues at an early stage, without the need for legal action. Eviction should be a last resort, but we will act firmly if a case needs it. Listed below are the actions we can take:

• issue warning letters
• mediation
• Acceptable Behaviour Contracts
• Community Protection Warning/Notice
• family intervention referral
• Injunctions and Exclusion Orders - with powers of arrest in certain circumstances
• possession proceedings and eviction
• demotion of tenancy
• legal action under the Environmental Protection Act or the Noise Act
• involvement of partner agencies
• referral to the police for investigation of criminal behaviour
• neighbourhood agreements
• property closure
• referral to a multi-agency problem-solving group (if the other party has mental health problems, disabilities or their anti-social behaviour impacts on the wider community)