Anti-social behaviour and Community Trigger

Working to ensure everyone living in Adur and Worthing feels safe is about more than reducing crime. Anti-social behaviour can have a real impact on people's quality of life, which is why tackling it is one of the Safer Communities Partnership's key priorities.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 defines anti-social behaviour as:

• conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person
• conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person's occupation of residential premises, or
• conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person

Examples of anti-social behaviour can include:

• noise nuisance
• verbal abuse
• threatening behaviour
• harassment and intimidation
• harm to property or environment, ie: vandalism, graffiti, abandoned cars

The following are not generally considered to be examples of anti-social behaviour:

• young people playing in parks
• family or neighbour disputes
• inconsiderate parking
• disputes over property or boundaries
• business activities associated with either commercial or private premises

Report anti-social behaviour

Incidents of anti-social behaviour can be reported to either Sussex Police or Adur & Worthing Councils:

Report to Sussex Police:

If a crime is in progress or someone is in immediate danger, please call 999.

Non-urgent matters can be reported by calling 101 or online:

Report a crime - on the Sussex Police website

Report to Adur & Worthing Councils:

Anyone living, working or visiting Adur and Worthing can report an incident of anti-social behaviour to us by calling 01273 263356, or completing the online form below:

Report anti-social behaviour (online eform)

Note: If you are an Adur Homes tenant or leaseholder, please report it to Adur Homes

In order for us to deal effectively with anti-social behaviour we need to have accurate and detailed information about where and when incidents are taking place, and who is involved. We recommend keeping a log of incidents, using the form below:

• Anti-social behaviour diary template (1,051KB)

What happens when you report anti-social behaviour to us

When you report anti-social behaviour to us, we will:

• contact you within three working days
• provide you with the details of who will be dealing with your complaint
• record the details of your complaint and investigate to see if it's anti-social behaviour (as defined in our Policy and Procedure, see below)
• discuss your options and agree actions with you
• provide you and any witnesses with appropriate support
• keep in touch with you by your preferred method (eg text, email, letter or phone)
• treat the information you give us in line with GDPR (see our privacy statement)
• ask for your feedback about how we handled your complaint

Anti-social behaviour Policy

To find out more about how we deal with anti-social behaviour please see:

• Adur & Worthing Councils - Anti-Social Behaviour Policy (575KB)

Useful websites and links

• Victim Support website
• Citizens Advice website
• Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) website
• Crimestoppers website
• Resolving neighbour disputes - on the GOV.UK website
• West Sussex Mediation Service website
• Report an abandoned vehicle or anti-social driving or an untaxed vehicle
• Grass verge parking
• Noise problems

Community Trigger

Community Trigger is a process which enables you to ask the Safer Communities Partnership to review their response to reports of anti-social behaviour.

You can use the Community Trigger if you (as an individual) have reported three separate incidents to the Council, police or a registered housing provider (social landlord) within the last six months and feel no action has been taken.

The Trigger does not replace the complaints procedures of individual organisations, or your opportunity to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) or Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

You can request a Community Trigger in one of the following ways:

Complete and return the form:

• Community Trigger Request Form - to type into (125KB)
• Community Trigger Request Form - to hand write (73KB)

Call 101 ext 581744 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)

Email safer.communities@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Write to us:

• Adur & Worthing Councils,
  Safer Communities Team,
  Worthing Town Hall,
  Chapel Road,
  Worthing,
  West Sussex,
  BN11 1NA

You will need to provide the following information:

• dates of each time you've made a report
• who you made the report to (name, organisation and/or incident reference number)
• details of the incident you reported

What happens when you request a Community Trigger?

Following a Community Trigger request, the Safer Communities team will work with any other agencies involved to review the original report(s) of anti-social behaviour and what actions have been considered and taken. Following this review you will receive a report of the outcome explaining the action taken so far, along with suggestions for how the issue can be resolved.

The Community Trigger is not a complaint procedure. If you are not satisfied with the review of your case you can lodge a complaint with the organisation concerned.

Community Trigger activations

The following number of Community Triggers have been received and/or activated in Adur and Worthing:

• 2020/21:
  • 5 received
  • 3 actioned (full reviews)
• 2018/19:
  • 2 received
  • 2 actioned (full reviews)
• 2016/17:
  • 0
• 2014/15:
  • 2 received
  • 1 actioned (full review)

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