question for people in council or HA housing

KARO

Not sure where to ask this.. the housing board seems to be more for buying and selling or renting, and this is more of a security/anti-social behaviour issue.

I live in a Housing Association flat. Back in May this year I started a thread about some errant teens who are running amok here. One boy actually lives here, the rest are his mates who come round and party when the lad's mum goes off and leaves him, which is frequently!



Now, the problem we residents are having is the HA won't put cctv in, stating it's too expensive. But at the same time they won't do anything about this group of teenagers because they say there's no "conclusive proof" it was them, despite residents seeing them and reporting it. We feel like we're being fobbed off.


So I wanted to ask people in council or Housing Association housing if they have cctv or any cameras in the communal areas where they live. Just wondering if it's the norm or not.

Guest101

Have you spoken to your neighbourhood policing team?

That should defintely be the 1st port of call.

CCTV is largely redundant in such situations. I dont blame the HA for saying no.

mellymoo74

It's the norm
Any reports to the police? Google community trigger and action that.

pmlindyloo

Your housing association should have an anti social policy. Look on their website for it.

There is a useful CAB link here:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/problems-where-you-live/anti-social-behaviour-in-housing/

Unfortunately an HA does not have to provide CCTV.

In all cases of anti social behaviour you have to be like a 'dog and its bone'.

You (and your neighbours) must keep up a never ending campaign to get this resolved. That means reporting every incident to the HA and keeping a detailed diary of events.

Is there any way you can get video evidence yourself? You need to be very careful about this as they are young people so speak to the local community support officer for some advice. They may even be willing to patrol the area.

If you find the young people's behaviour intimidating or they are causing damage then you can report it to the police.

Of course the best way forward is to speak to the mother of the child involved but if you have no evidence that it is her child then this is difficult. You (and your neighbours) could write a generic letter to all the neighbouring properties asking for their help in tackling this.

Anti social behaviour is notoriously difficult to get resolved and most people give up.

if you and your neighbours make a real nuisance of your selves then you will have a better chance of getting something done.

Of course, if you know that the mother leaves her son for long periods and suspect that drugs are involved then the police should at least investigate.

Unfortunately in these circumstances you are often passed from 'pillar to post'. it does require a big effort to get things sorted so a meeting of those 'suffering' might share some of the load.

Good luck!

KARO

Guest101 wrote: »

Have you spoken to your neighbourhood policing team?

That should defintely be the 1st port of call.

CCTV is largely redundant in such situations. I dont blame the HA for saying no.

The latest shenanigans involved them attempting to drive someone's car in the car-park at 4 in the morning. They couldn't drive, obviously, and the car kept stalling. Luckily they didn't hit anything/anyone! (or get hurt for that matter)

CCTV in the carpark would at least show them doing it. What if someone's car got damaged or they got injured or hurt.

Guest101

KARO wrote: »

The latest shenanigans involved them attempting to drive someone's car in the car-park at 4 in the morning. They couldn't drive, obviously, and the car kept stalling. Luckily they didn't hit anything/anyone! (or get hurt for that matter)

CCTV in the carpark would at least show them doing it. What if someone's car got damaged or they got injured or hurt.

Presumebly you know this because there was a witness.

That person should go to the police, make a statement and the police can then investigate & proecute if necessary.

CCTV is used as supplementary evidence in most cases. IE wtiness A says this happened and CCTV confirms this.

Witness statement is enough.

mellymoo74

Karo CCTV won't help they won't send someone straight down because something is going on. We have a camera pointe at our car park it makes no difference with the ASB. Police are still looking for people who saw it.

KARO

Guest101 wrote: »

Presumebly you know this because there was a witness.

That person should go to the police, make a statement and the police can then investigate & proecute if necessary.

CCTV is used as supplementary evidence in most cases. IE wtiness A says this happened and CCTV confirms this.

Witness statement is enough.

But when we tell the housing association what these kids have been seen doing, they say "oh that's just hearsay" and don't follow it up. It's not hearsay, we've witnessed it.


We used to have a good housing officer, but sadly no longer. They moved to another area, and we got another one who's a bit passive, and they're not around at the moment anyway.

fed_up_and_stressed

KARO wrote: »

But when we tell the housing association what these kids have been seen doing, they say "oh that's just hearsay" and don't follow it up. It's not hearsay, we've witnessed it.


We used to have a good housing officer, but sadly no longer. They moved to another area, and we got another one who's a bit passive, and they're not around at the moment anyway.

Contact the police use the 101 non emergency number. If each and every crime gets logged hopefully they will have discussions with the HA to try to resolve the issues.

Primrose

One thing you can do is dial 999 or the police 101 non emergency number every time there is an incident and ask for a crime reference number. Eventually if a large number of of incidents occur in the same place the
Police will be forced to give them a higher priority and liaise with the housing association to get the matter sorted out.

ThumbRemote

Certainly in my area if we ring the non-emergency police number for anti-social behaviour, they will send a car around. It's prioritised depending on what else is happening - if there's no other calls then it becomes the highest priority and they send a car round straight away, otherwise it takes its turn in the queue.

The main thing is to keep your own records and keep on at the police and HA.