What is Antisocial Behaviour and How to Report It

Dear Resident

We received reports of antisocial behaviour (ASB) in the local area, every day. Please be aware that while some incidents can be directly addressed by police, many are dealt with in collaboration with partner agencies.  We work closely with the local authority, housing providers, and community organisations to ensure that concerns are investigated, and appropriate action is taken. 

From time to time, people forget to be considerate of others. If you are experiencing ASB or have any concerns, please don't hesitate to report them so they can be followed up accordingly.

Antisocial behaviour refers to actions, conduct, or behaviours that go against societal norms, rules, or laws and often harm or disregard the well-being of others. It involves behaviours that are disruptive, aggressive, harmful, or disrespectful towards individuals, communities, or the general public. ASB manifests in various forms and can occur at different levels of severity.

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) is unacceptable; it can affect communities in different ways and can have negative impacts on people’s lives including causing people to move home or take time off work. Everyone has a right to feel safe in the place that they live, visit, travel, and work in.

Some examples of antisocial behaviour:

·  abusive behaviour, verbal abuse, and harassment

·  intimidating groups taking over public spaces

·  vandalism, graffiti and fly-posting

·  noise nuisance

·  fly-tipping and dumped rubbish

·  abandoned cars

·  nuisance neighbours

·  aggressive begging (please note that rough sleeping alone is not considered ASB)

·  antisocial street drinking

·  drug/substance misuse (the dealing of drugs is a serious criminal offence and needs to be reported to the police in the first instance) You can report this to the police by: calling 999 in emergencies or if there is a threat to life / calling 101 or reporting online via Met Police website / reporting anonymously to Crimestoppers online or by calling 0800 555 111

Where appropriate, the council works with police and other partners to deal with the range of ASB issues related to the misuse of drugs. However, the police are the main partner for drug-related issues.

ASB can be challenging to define and some behaviours (although may be perceived as annoying) are NOT classed as antisocial. These include:

·  children playing in the street or communal areas - unless they are causing damage to property.

·  young people gathering socially - unless they are rowdy, inconsiderate and/or being intimidating or causing damage to property.

·  being unable to park outside your own home.

·  DIY - unless these are taking place late at night or very early in the morning.

·  disagreements over boundary walls, fences and parking.

·  cooking smells.

·  noise from opening and closing cupboards.

·  noisy washing machines and toilets being flushed

Reporting ASB at the time, and every time is really important as it allows us to see the pattern of days and times.  It's also really important that residents report individually, rather than one person reporting on behalf of others, as this does not allow us to see how big an area  or how many people are being affected.  Please try to include as much information as possible without placing yourself at risk to do so - i.e. car registration plates, numbers in the group, descriptions, names heard. 

Report ASB via 101 or online at https://www.met.police.uk/ro/report/asb/asb-v3/report-antisocial-behaviour/  

For more information about the role of Hillingdon Council in dealing with ASB, visit: Anti-social behaviour - Hillingdon Council

We hope this information is useful.  If you feel that your neighbours would benefit from seeing this information, please share this email with them, and encourage them to sign up to MET ENGAGE ALERTS as well by the following link: https://www.metengage.co.uk/Content/Pages/Sign-Up 

Please do not use MET Engage Alert to report a crime or something else that requires police attention as we are unable to log details via this system. Thank you.