Community safety

We work closely with the Police, Norfolk County Council and other groups to improve community safety in the Borough.

What is safeguarding? It is a way of protecting people from forms of abuse such as

• neglect
• domestic violence
• modern slavery
• discrimination

If you see or hear something that doesn't seem right, say something.

If you or someone you know is being abused, or may be at risk of any form of mistreatment or neglect, please:

• telephone Norfolk County Council on 0344 800 8020
• visit Norfolk County Council's Help an adult at risk of harm information hub

When you telephone you may remain anonymous, but if you can give us as much information as possible it will be helpful.

If you have immediate concerns for the safety of anyone, you should ring 999 for an emergency response.

You can find out more about:

• protecting children on the Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP) (opens new window) website
• protecting adults on the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) (opens new window) website

If you have concerns about someone's safety please:

• telephone Norfolk County Council on 0344 800 8020
• visit the Multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) on the Norfolk County Council website for information and useful links 

When you telephone you may remain anonymous, but if you can give us as much information as possible it will be helpful.

A hate crime is any crime where the victim, or any other person, perceives it was motivated by hostility or prejudice towards their identity. This includes crimes perceived to be motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity.

A hate incident is any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone's prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or because they are transgender. Not all hate incidents will amount to criminal offences, but it is important to report them to the police.

Find out more about hate crime on the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk website (opens new window).

You can report a hate crime or incident:

• online via the Norfolk Constabulary website (opens new window) 
• by calling the police
• by contacting or visiting any of our offices, where staff can help you make a report; information will be treated confidentially and in addition to helping to make the report, staff can help to signpost you to support services

Domestic abuse means any threats, violence, controlling or coercive behaviour that takes place between family members or people aged over 16 who are in a relationship with each other (or have been in the past). Family members are defined as mother, father, sister, brother and grandparents; whether directly related, in-laws or step family.

• domestic abuse can happen regardless of social group, class, age, race, disability or sexuality of the individuals involved
• domestic abuse can affect both men and women, and it can occur in any relationship - heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual; young or old

It is a pattern of behaviour used by abusers designed to establish and maintain power and control over another person.

For more details on recognising and reporting on domestic abuse, and how the Council can help visit our dedicated Domestic Abuse section.

We deal with reports of:

• excessive noise
• aggressive, threatening or hateful language
• litter, graffiti or dumped rubbish
• abandoned cars or nuisance from vehicles
• problems caused by animals, including dog fouling
• anti-social behaviour as a result of misuse of drugs or alcohol

We would not investigate the following under anti-social behaviour:

• normal domestic living noise
• domestic/commercial CCTV systems
• children playing, including football games in public spaces
• BBQs 
• access/egress and boundary disputes
• disputes over allocated parking bays
• parking outside schools, on pavements or parking on the highway
• animals urinating
• odour, smoke or fumes from cannabis or other illegal substances
• neighbours looking at you or not getting on with you
• criminal offences (which are not an environmental crime)

If you are a Council tenant, you should contact your local Housing Officer to report anti-social behaviour.

If you own your own property, are in private rented accommodation or are a business, you should contact our Environmental Health team.

If you have witnessed vandalism please contact the Norfolk Constabulary (opens new window) directly, if you just wish to report vandalism, please contact the company that owns the vandalised object such as BT or Adshell.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) Case Review previously known as Community Trigger, gives victims of ASB the right to request a review of their case when the ASB problem has not been addressed. The ASB Case Review is a multi-agency meeting where agencies such as the local Council, Police and housing providers review how they have responded to the issue by conducting a review of the case so far, and formulating a joint action plan to move forward.

If you have complained to the Police, the Council and/or your housing provider on three or more occasions about separate incidents of ASB in the past 6 months and within 1 month of the incident happening, you can apply for an ASB case review. Alternatively you can make an application by calling your local Council and asking someone to help you complete the form.

Independent advice and help are also available from ASB Help (opens new window). ASB Help is a registered charity in England and Wales which has been set up to provide advice and support to victims of anti-social behaviour.

The ASB Case Review does not replace the complaints procedure of Great Yarmouth Borough Council which should be used when there is dissatisfaction with the conduct of an individual or service. It also does not replace your right to complain to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman or the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

There are a couple of important steps that will happen once you have made your application. These are:

Step 1 : Your application will be sent onto the relevant Operational Partnership Team within 5 days. This team is made up of officers and civilians from the Police and officers from the Council.

Step 2: The Operational Partnership Team will review your application and nominate a single point of contact (SPOC) who will oversee the case. The SPOC will contact you within 7 working days of receiving the application and introduce themselves to you and explain the next steps.

If in the meantime you wish to report further incidents of anti-social behaviour please Contact your housing provider (if applicable), the local Council or the Police via their online reporting mechanism or if this is not available to you via the 101 system. If it is an emergency always dial 999.

A meeting will then take place between the appropriate Community Safety Partnership Agencies, the social housing providers and other partners (if they are involved) to discuss the anti social behaviour and the actions that have been discussed and taken. The group will review how the Partnership has responded and make recommendations on how the problem can be resolved.

A response will be sent to you explaining the actions taken and also suggestions on how the Partnership can further attempt to resolve the anti social behaviour.

You can request a case review by visiting the ASB Case Review (opens new window) page on the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk website.

If you are not satisfied with the response during the ASB Case Review you are able to appeal.

Information on contacting can be found via our Emergency out of hours service section.

You could also check the Crimestoppers website (opens new window) or the Victim Support website (opens new window) for support and information.

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (opens new window) introduced simpler, more effective powers to tackle anti-social behaviour that provide better protection for victims and communities.

One of the powers introduced is a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). This allows local authorities to tackle anti-social behaviour happening in public places such as beaches, parks, streets, recreation grounds and play areas. It can be used to tackle behaviours that most reasonable people would think are not appropriate in a public place such as:

• not clearing up dog fouling 
• behaviour associated with drinking such as littering, public urination and intimidating behaviour 

Everyone should be able to enjoy and make use of the public spaces in the Borough responsibly, without causing a nuisance to other people.

Details of PSPOs currently in force can be viewed under Public Space Protection Orders, while details of related public consultations can be viewed on our Consultations and surveys page.