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Antisocial behaviour – local involvement and accountability

Find out how the community can get involved in tackling antisocial behaviour.

The Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 gives victims of antisocial behaviour and low level crime a say in the out-of-court punishment of the offenders involved.

The local policing body, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, is required to prepare a ‘community remedy document’. This document outlines a list of actions which might be appropriate for an offender or perpetrator of antisocial behaviour as a sanction without going to court. These actions must be either rehabilitative, restorative or punitive. 

What is the community trigger?

  • The community trigger allows victims and communities to ask for a response to persistent antisocial behaviour. 
  • It places a new duty on local agencies including councils, the police, local health teams and registered social housing providers to take action on complaints about antisocial behaviour.
  • The community trigger cannot be used to report general acts of crime. 
  • It is not a complaints procedure and does not replace existing processes to make a complaint if you are not happy about the service you have received.
  • Find out about our complaints and feedback procedure.
  • We are required by law to publish annual figures on community trigger applications and the number of applications that resulted in the trigger being activated. 
  • The table below shows the applications made to activate the community trigger:

Community trigger applications

Year Applications received How many met the threshold  Number of cases that resulted in further action
2014 0  0
2015 0  0 0
2016 0  0 0
2017 0  0 0
2018 1  0 0
2019  *  * *
2020  *  * *
2021  *  * *
2022  12  0 0

*We are unable to provide data relating to community triggers between 2019 and 2021 due to a loss of evidence.

When can the community trigger be used?

The community trigger can be used in the following situations:

  • If you've reported 3 incidents of anti-social behaviour in the last 6 months, to the police, your housing agency or us, and you feel that no action has been taken, or

  • If five individuals in the local community have reported similar incidents of antisocial behaviour separately and no action has been taken.

How do I use the community trigger?

You can either:

The community trigger can be activated by a victim of antisocial behaviour, an individual on the victim’s behalf, a community or a business.

What happens next?

  • You will get an automatic response when you submit your form.
  • Within five working days we will send you a letter of acknowledgement detailing the timescales for the trigger process.
  • A trigger panel with a senior representative from the relevant agencies will then meet to determine whether the report meets the community trigger threshold outlined above, and to identify an appropriate and proportionate action plan.
  • Following the trigger panel meeting you will get a written response detailing the decision of the panel.