Anti-social behaviour can affect anyone.
Noise nuisance, neighbour disputes, verbal abuse, threatening behaviour, harassment and intimidation, vandalism and criminal damage are all classed as ASB.
No-one wants it and no-one should have to put up with it.
That's why we employ two ASB officers who work with partner agencies to deal with problems and to try and stamp them out before it escalates. We caught up with the two officers to find out more about their roles.
Louise said: "There really is no typical day and that is what we enjoy most, that each day is different. We can have our diary planned with meetings and visits and then something more urgent comes in which we need to go and attend straight away."
Louise and Alison work closely with partner agencies and every two weeks they hold an ASB tasking meeting where agencies such as the police, fire service, social care, immediate justice and REMEDI come together to discuss cases of anti-social behaviour across the district. Alison said: "These meetings are essential, It lets all the relevant people know what is happening, what to look out for and any hot spot areas that need tackling. They are also great for sharing ideas and resources, as no one organisation can do it all."
A large part of their role is using the tools and powers under the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and taking enforcement action. The powers are wide ranging and could be anything from giving evidence in court to issuing closure orders on problem properties. But it's not just about dealing with crime, it is providing support to victims of ASB and crime. This can be referrals to victim services, providing regular updates on their case, letting them know of any enforcement action we have taken or an offer of CCTV cameras. Sometimes anti-social behaviour can result in a tenant losing their home.
Louise said: "No one case is the same, so we have to treat everyone differently and be objective in how we approach the case. We recognise ASB can be very upsetting and stressful to our tenants and resident's and we try and support victims as much as possible during what can be a very difficult time."
Dealing with difficult situations is a massive part of the role. In some cases we have to take enforcement action against an individual, this may be a Community Protection Warning, a tenancy warning if it is a council tenant and in these cases our officers work closely with their housing management colleagues.
Knowledge in this role is king and it involved working closely with the community enforcement rangers so they can arrange patrols if needed to provide reassurance. Amongst other things this could be a neighbour dispute or young people causing problems in one of our local towns.
To help combat this the team have been using the 'Noise App' which allows residents to send in the recordings directly to the team, sometimes as the noise is happening. This has been successful when dealing with cases of ASB which can include loud music and other types of noise nuisance affecting neighbours. We have issued Community Protection Warnings following evidence received from 'Noise App' and this has resulted in no further complaints in some cases.
The team work closely with local police teams and a number of agencies across Bolsover District, which gives us a variety of powers. Such as issuing warning letters or various enforcement notices or even making a safeguarding referral if we have concerns.
Another major element of the job is the introduction of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) across the district. These are in place to restrict individuals from engaging in ASB such as street drinking, urinating in public, littering and if we witness this behaviour we can issue a fixed penalty notice for £100. More recently we have put a PSPO in place for car cruising across the district following an increased number of complaints of vehicles meetings and causing a disturbance to residents.
Alison said: "These PSPOs have been very effective and have led to a reduction in problems in hot spot areas. ASB, whatever form is takes, is not nice to live with and we want to reassure our residents that we are doing everything we can to help reduce and stop it."
