Who looks out for you?

Ben Hunt has been physically assaulted more than once while serving antisocial behaviour orders. But as a manager at Antisocial Behaviour Operations, a consultancy that works with councils and housing associations, he’s pretty resilient.

“I’d rather it happened to me than the tenants,” he says. “I can go home at the end of the day.” Hunt also has the backing of an employer that’s prepared to take prompt action if he is put at risk.

But that’s not always so for the employees of councils and housing associations, which are relatively new to dealing with nuisance behaviour.

Earlier this month, home secretary Charles Clarke told workers at a Chartered Institute of Housing presidential dinner to “go out and confront antisocial behaviour” (HT 18 February, page 10). Under the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003, housing organisations have taken over some of the work traditionally done by police – they employ wardens to patrol estates and apply for ASBOs. But the stress of dealing with aggressive behaviour can be debilitating and, unlike police officers, who are trained to deal with difficult situations, housing workers have little access to post-traumatic stress counselling or compassionate leave.

The most basic thing your employer can do to protect you is be willing to take rapid legal action. Injunctions can be served following verbal abuse and, in the case of threats of violence, they can be active within hours.

But in order to get quick results, your employer will need a solicitor with experience in this area, which not all councils and associations have. If the process is too slow, put pressure on your employer to use a specialist solicitor.

Your employer should provide some kind of emotional support too. Some councils, such as Camden and Kirklees, provide stress counselling for employees, and the charity Victim Support works with housing organisations to help housing professionals. The charity welcomes calls from housing officers who have to absorb a lot of negative feelings; it can be contacted by calling 0845 3030 900.

If a behaviour problem is overwhelming you, it might be that you are being expected to do too much without the right tools or expertise. “The greatest stress for housing officers is not knowing how to handle the case and not having the proper resources to do it, whether that’s a camcorder, a noise box [to monitor excessive noise] or a solicitor,” says Adam Greenwood, director of consultancy Adam Greenwood Associates.

Camden council’s answer to this problem comes in the form of an antisocial behaviour coordinator. Every month he or she visits housing officers to offer support. If they have a difficult interview coming up, the council also sends along a specialist in areas such as domestic violence, homophobic or racial harassment, or youth antisocial behaviour.

Calico Housing in Burnley has hired a consultancy to run through a risk assessment with its officers, during which a range of advice is given – from how the right footwear or sitting close to exits can help you to get away more easily if a situation turns nasty, to examining the need for extra security guards.

When it comes to dealing with one of the most stressful aspects of handling poor behaviour, that of testifying in a court case, Greenwood says training is vital – even if it’s on-the-job. A housing officer can learn valuable lessons about what witnesses have to go through by doing witness support, for example. Professional witnesses should expect a senior member of the housing team to accompany and support them in court.

And there are free courses and grants available for antisocial behaviour projects. The Home Office’s antisocial behaviour unit runs Together Academies for housing teams to share knowledge about how to tackle ASB, and places are still left for spring sessions.