How we help control anti-social behaviour in your local community
What is anti-social behaviour?
The term ‘anti-social behaviour’ (ASB) encompasses a wide range of unacceptable activities and behaviours which could cause someone annoyance and nuisance or harm and distress.
For example, this category encompasses noise, swearing, shouting or fighting, harassment plus verbal and other types of abuse, including threats of violence or carrying these out. Rubbish dumping, vandalism, graffiti and anti-social drinking plus loud parties also all fall under this general umbrella. It’s estimated that just over 19 million ASB incidents were logged in the UK during 2020-21.
Legal penalties for this behaviour have had a number of official names - the most well-known being the ASBO, abolished in 2014 and replaced by Civil Injunctions and Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs).
There are many bodies around to tackle ASB, including emergency services, landlords and housing associations, commercial businesses, voluntary groups and others.
For example, churches and faith organisations within a community help by providing alternative activities for young people. Or there are Neighbourhood Watch schemes plus youth groups and clubs. Meanwhile, charities from Victim Support to Age UK and Citizens Advice can also have a key role in tackling anti-social behaviour.
Local businesses can also play their part by networking with each other and getting involved in community anti-ASB initiatives. Indeed, their views can be crucial in setting out policy and strategy. Equally, shops, for example, can be important in agreeing not to sell alcohol to underage drinkers.
But with the UK’s high streets under pressure, councils and local partnership initiatives are increasingly looking for innovative ways of supporting the businesses on their doorstep.
One such option is to hire City Centre Security Officers – fully trained, SIA-licenced security professionals who carry out patrols of a town or city-centre location on foot. These teams can root out everything from excessive noise and alcohol consumption to other forms of intimidating behaviour.
Why hire private security firms to control ASB?
Trying to tackle ASB by taking matters into your own hands can often just make a bad situation worse, as indeed can any untrained, improvised or cheap security solution. By trying to deal with anti-social behaviour yourself, you could also be putting your own safety at risk.
Trained, professional security teams, on the other hand, with SIA licences, can bring a wealth of experience to your community.
Community patrols from DGCS
At DGCS, we fill in gaps in security provision in local communities, supporting councils and law-enforcement bodies while working in tandem with the emergency services.
Our supportive, professional and flexible teams patrol the public areas of a community, from shopping centres to housing estates, providing reassurance and helping reduce the fear of crime and ASB. Uniformed, SIA-registered officers patrol in liveried, equipped vehicles to prevent and deter ASB, in cooperation with the police but without trying to replace them.
Talk to us today about how we could help minimise the crime, and the fear of it, in your London or Home Counties community.
