Anti-social behaviour

Anti-Social Behaviour & Hate Crimes

We recognise the impact that anti-social behaviour (ASB) and hate crimes can have on the lives of our residents and the importance of tackling it effectively.

We define ASB as a range of behaviours that can cause nuisance, annoyance, harm or distress to a person.

ASB becomes a 'Hate Crime' if the behaviours are motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic, like race or sexual orientation.

If you're having issues with ASB or if you are a victim of a hate crime, please report it to us using the form below.

Report ASB

Here for you

We take a zero tolerance approach to people causing high risk harm. That's why we work closely with the police and other organisations to ensure that you feel safe in your community.

Our support service has been created in partnership with residents who had previously been victims of ASB and/or hate crimes. It outlines what you can expect when you report something to us, and what you can do to help us to support you.

We're also an official Hate Crime Reporting Centre. Our Eastlight House office in Braintree provides a safe, secure place for you to report and seek support where needed.

View our ASB & Hate Crime Policy here

Your ASB toolkit:

What should I do if I am experiencing ASB and/or a hate crime?

Please report all crimes such as violence, drug use/dealing, threatening and intimidating behaviour and harassment on the grounds of your race or sexuality, to the Police.

Call 999 for emergencies and 101 if it non-urgent.

Before you report, please:

Take time to assess whether the situation is anti-social behaviour or a hate crime before reporting it to Eastlight.
Be mindful of different lifestyles and the expectation of reasonable levels of disturbance, such as food smells, babies crying at night, DIY or different working patterns.
Ask friends or family for their views.

In most cases, talking with your neighbour calmly about your concerns can resolve many minor problems before they get out of control.

Sometimes people do not realise they are being inconsiderate and are not being intentional. If speaking to your neighbour does not work, we can offer a free independent professional mediation service.

How do I report anti-social behaviour and/or a hate crime?

You can report ASB and/or hate crimes using this form here.

Please give as much factual information as you can about the issue, including the impact the behaviour and incidents are having on your life.

There are a number of steps you can take to help us progress the issue. These include:

Following our guide nuisance noise here.
Providing us with full details of who you are and where you live to ensure that we can provide you with the best support and outcome. If you wish to make an anonymous complaint and the report is of a criminal nature, like a hate crime, we will contact the police in order to investigate.
Providing witness statements, where possible. For a small number of high risk anti-social behaviour cases, we may need to make an application to court to seek legal remedies. In these cases, we would encourage victims to provide witness statements and be prepared to attend court. Eastlight will support you throughout the whole process.

We will work with you and our partner agencies to seek evidence, while taking a reasonable and proportionate approach to resolving the issue. We will not be able to evict your neighbour in the first instance.

If you're concerned about someone's safety and welfare, please contact us. Find out more about safeguarding here.

What can you expect from us?

We will respond to your phone calls within 48 hours and your emails within five days.
We will listen to your problem and complete a risk assessment with you. This will help us decide what action needs to be taken.
We will be open and honest with you. If the issue is not anti-social behaviour or a hate crime, we will provide you with information and guidance to help you resolve it.
If what you are experiencing is anti-social behaviour and/or a hate crime, we will investigate.
We will agree an action plan with you.
We will keep you updated on the case at a frequency which suits you.
We will (subject to the level of risk and situation type) ask that you consider mediation to resolve low-level neighbour disputes.
We aim to support all victims, while taking a strong stance against proven high-risk perpetrators.
We will work closely with the Police, local councils and, where necessary, specialist organisations to help seek resolutions.

What is a Community Trigger and how does it work?

If you have reported an ASB or hate crime incident three or more times to any agency within a six month period, or you can activate the Community Trigger (also known as ASB Case Review) through your local authority.

This has been designed to give you, the victim, the right to demand that agencies deal with persistent anti-social behaviour and hate crimes.

We are committed to working alongside you and our partners to understand when failures happen and will always engage with the relevant local authority when requested to do so.

Can I report a different way, or anonymously?

If you don't want to speak to someone at Eastlight about your incident, then we encourage you to visit CrimeStoppers and find out more information via their website page here.

There, you are able to report any incidents anonymously. Click here to report.

We advise you to view their website terms and the information CrimeStoppers are able to process, before reporting.

Additional Support

If you need help to understand or complete the form below, please let us know. For more information on how we can support you to navigate our website, forms and documents, click on the 'Additional Support' button below.

Additional Support