More powers to dealwith bad behaviour

Anti-social behaviour covers a wide range of incidents from litter and vandalism, to public drunkenness or noisy or abusive neighbours - that can cause misery, either to an individual or the wider community.

To provide better protection for victims and communities, the government has introduced the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which provides simpler, more effective powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.

A number of new measures came into force on Monday.

The criminal behaviour order - issued by the courts after a conviction for a criminal offence, can ban an individual from certain activities or places and require them to address the behaviour, for example by attending a drug treatment programme. A breach could see an adult face a prison term of up to five years.

The community protection notice gives local authorities and police power to stop persistent environmental anti-social behaviour, like graffiti, neighbour noise or rubbish on private land. This is an out-of-court power and breach is a criminal offence.

Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith, strategic lead for Neighbourhood Policing at Sussex Police, said: “We welcome the launch of the community trigger which will ensure that members of the public and victims of anti-social behaviour and hate crime are receiving the service they need from us and our partners.

“Brighton and Hove Division was one of the locations in England in which the scheme was trialled and we know that it resulted in better outcomes as we continue to strive to meet a more locally-driven and victim-centred approach.

“We know that these crimes can have a serious impact on individuals, families and communities and encourage those who meet the threshold to contact us.”