Anti-Social behaviour is defined in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as: a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household
LASBU (Leicester Anti Social Behaviour Unit) is part of Leicester City Council Community Safety Group, which is part of the Environment and Enforcement Section We have a team of 6 investigators (one for each policing area) We take referrals from the Police, our own Departments within the council, Registered Social Landlords and members of the public.
Investigate all types of ASB issues Interview perpetrators of ASB and take necessary action Interview witnesses and victims, and offer appropriate support, ie victim support Take witness statements Liaise with RSL s and private landlords Joint interviews Attend JAGs Arrange multi agency meetings Liaise with other agencies to tackle ASB e.g. noise team.
When do LASBU get involved? When you put a case on Sentinel, you can alert me to look at any ASB issue. If it is a council tenancy, I will add who the officer is and whether I can get involved. If it is low level, housing need to do their warnings first. If a first and second warning has been sent and it is at ABC level I would normally get involved if it is breached.
If it is a RSL tenancy I can advise, but cannot act as they need to deal with their own tenancies, but they can refer to LASBU if they wish. If it is a private rented tenancy, I can get involved early but only to discuss concerns with the landlord, I have no powers to take action on private tenancies. I can also get involved with owner occupiers but again limited powers around this tenure.
LASBU work with partners and individuals to tackle and resolve anti-social behaviour within Leicester City. We have a referral criteria for which cases that we will accept (or not accept). LASBU only take on the most serious cases of anti-social behaviour within Leicester City. This means that we will usually only investigate cases where an Acceptable Behaviour Contract has been attempted and failed by another agency such as Housing or the Police.
Examples include: Verbal and written advice letters Warning letters Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC) Mediation Good Neighbour Agreements Referral to supporting agencies such as Think Family, MST and Target Hardening Case conference Common Assessment Framework (CAF) Joint Action Groups (JAG) Joint ASB Management Group (JMG)
Specialist Victim Support Service All Victims and witnesses to Anti-Social Behaviour and Hate Incidents referred to LASBU are offered specialist support through the Victim Support Project. This support is provided through Victim Support Leicester. This support will be provided for as long as required and will mainly consist of telephone support and one to one meetings at Victim Support premises.
Refer them through to LASBU If we are not the most appropriate agency to deal with the query we will co-ordinate and manage it on to the right place.
Many witnesses and victims ask for camera equipment to be installed within their properties. We would not install covert cameras without a RIPA authorisation and there basically needs to be a risk of a prison sentence of at least 6 months to get one signed.
LASBU Investigators work closely with Community Safety Development Officers. Development Officers These individuals tackle crime and anti-social behaviour from a places perspective. ASB Investigators These individuals tackle anti-social behaviour from a people perspective.
Community Safety Development Officers Deal with issues such as target hardening, community meetings, CCTV, and area improvements. ASB Investigators Deal with identified perpetrators of ASB and hate incidents from breached ABC onwards and/ or victims & witnesses.
LASBU Tel: 0116 2293620 Fax: 0116 2293628 E-Mail: LASBU@leicester.gov.uk Community Safety Team Tel: 0116 2526515 E-Mail: communitysafetyteam@leicester.gov.uk