5 Jul 2023
Our Safer Communities team is here to help keep your communities safe – and for you to report any antisocial behaviour (ASB), should you need to.
We caught up with one of our officers, Andy, to find out more about what goes on in the world of a Safer Communities Officer each day.
Logging on
Every morning, I look at any emails received overnight. These can come into me, or the whole team. I also review my active cases and note down what needs to be done before I head to our morning meeting.
Every morning, we meet as a team virtually to discuss what’s happening, who needs support and to review and allocate cases. It’s a great time to come together and discuss any issues that people might have with a case.
The courtroom
This morning I attended court, which is another part of our role. A few days ago, we received several complaints from tenants about verbal abuse and threatening behaviour from another tenant.
We looked at CCTV footage of the incident and decided to work with our solicitor to get a ‘without notice injunction’. This is a court order to stop someone carrying out certain behaviours. I went to court with our solicitors to present evidence from tenants, alongside the CCTV footage, and the court granted the injunction. It will last for two years and will help us to manage anti-social behaviour in that community.
Afternoon
After lunch, I met with a customer who we believed was a victim of domestic abuse. These conversations are never easy, as distressing issues can come up. Empathy and understanding are essential to be able to offer support.
We talked about the situation, and the customer’s experiences, and I listened to what they had to say. I’ll need to meet the customer again in the next few days to complete some paperwork, which could result in a number of different outcomes ranging from a high-risk referral to the relevant agencies through to more local support.
The end of the day
I end my day my by writing up any notes or actions from the day’s activity, making sure all my cases are up to date and that we’ve communicated with the customers we need to.
Our partnership approach
We rarely work alone and have a network of lots of different partners to support our communities. From social workers to solicitors, and the police to local councils – we meet with them all on a regular basis. Linking with these other external agencies means we can find the best solution possible as quickly as we can.
I also regularly attend a multi-agency risk assessment conference with other Lincolnshire-based agencies to make sure we’re all on the same page when dealing with certain ASB cases that may be bigger than just Acis. We meet, come up with solutions and put them into action together.
Ultimately, my role is to support you, our customers, in any way I can to keep you safe in our communities.
Head over to the 'your neighbouhood' page to find out more about what we're doing to support you.