CommunityAlert.org.uk Drugs - Quality of Life and Anti- Social Behaviour Incident Reporting System Bloomsbury Association Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis UCL (CASA) West End Drugs Partnership London Borough of Camden Funded by Met Police Funded by Met Police

What is CommunityAlert? CommunityAlert is an interactive, Internet-based, anti-social behaviour incident reporting system. CommunityAlert is an interactive, Internet-based, anti-social behaviour incident reporting system. It provides a local community network available to resident blocks/groups, student organisations, businesses, institutions and problem solving groups that are taking the initiative against drugs, anti social behaviour and quality-of-life problems in the community. It provides a local community network available to resident blocks/groups, student organisations, businesses, institutions and problem solving groups that are taking the initiative against drugs, anti social behaviour and quality-of-life problems in the community. The purpose of the Network is to connect grass-roots community and anti social behaviour groups to each other; to facilitate the sharing of information among these groups; provide practical information and on-line resources on how to approach and solve local anti social behaviour and quality-of-life concerns; to link these groups with legal and other services which are able to assist them; and, through its unique CommunityAlert feature, to allow the community to report and get local action on persistent nuisances in their neighbourhoods The purpose of the Network is to connect grass-roots community and anti social behaviour groups to each other; to facilitate the sharing of information among these groups; to provide practical information and on-line resources on how to approach and solve local anti social behaviour and quality-of-life concerns; to link these groups with legal and other services which are able to assist them; and, through its unique CommunityAlert feature, to allow the community to report and get local action on persistent nuisances in their neighbourhoods It is a community owned and led initiative funded by Partners. It is a community owned and led initiative funded by Partners.

What does it do? The CommunityAlert helps the community to perform the following practical tasks: Report local quality of life concerns and incidents in a logical and comprehensive manner; Report local quality of life concerns and incidents in a logical and comprehensive manner; Organise information about such concerns/incidents in a searchable relational database; Organise information about such concerns/incidents in a searchable relational database; Share information about such concerns/incidents with other interested individuals and groups working on local neighbourhood safety initiatives; Share information about such concerns/incidents with other interested individuals and groups working on local neighbourhood safety initiatives; Transmit such concerns/incidents to the appropriate enforcement authorities through an efficient, seamless, utility (appointed authorities have access to the password protected database where they can view all reports online) Transmit such concerns/incidents to the appropriate enforcement authorities through an efficient, seamless, utility (appointed authorities have access to the password protected database where they can view all reports online) Track the authorities response to individual quality of life concerns and problems as well as larger incident type trends affecting local quality of life and allow feedback. Track the authorities response to individual quality of life concerns and problems as well as larger incident type trends affecting local quality of life and allow feedback. It empowers the community to become active in reducing ASB by providing a user- friendly method of communication with the authorities and a coordinated approach to problem solving, intelligence gathering and social responsibility

Who Manages it ? Each CommunityAlert is owned and managed by the local organisation that commissioned it and personalised to suit their needs, which may change from time to time. Each CommunityAlert is owned and managed by the local organisation that commissioned it and personalised to suit their needs, which may change from time to time. For mapping purposes it is ideally Ward (or police sector) based For mapping purposes it is ideally Ward (or police sector) based It is totally anonymous unless the informant supplies contact details and requests feedback It is totally anonymous unless the informant supplies contact details and requests feedback Under normal circumstances feedback from the system will be channeled through the local community coordinator Under normal circumstances feedback from the system will be channeled through the local community coordinator All incidents are first viewed by the local coordinator who decides which agency the report should be addressed to. e.g. Police Sector Unit or dedicated police address, Borough Council housing department, homelessness unit, racism unit, drug paraphernalia clean-up unit etc. Protocols will be established to allow this. All incidents are first viewed by the local coordinator who decides which agency the report should be addressed to. e.g. Police Sector Unit or dedicated police address, Borough Council housing department, homelessness unit, racism unit, drug paraphernalia clean-up unit etc. Protocols will be established to allow this. It is NOT a ‘crime’ or ‘ emergency’ reporting system. The web site will provide information on how to contact the police to report a crime and how to communicate information on more serious incidents/concerns. It is NOT a ‘crime’ or ‘ emergency’ reporting system. The web site will provide information on how to contact the police to report a crime and how to communicate information on more serious incidents/concerns.

Policing and the Community = a Partnership Police theology now dictates that it is an ‘Intelligence Led’ organisation Without intelligence from the community the police and anti-drug agencies are unable to combat the effects of drug related issues, anti-social behaviour and other quality of life issues to best effect. CommunityAlert encourages this partnership we believe. This user friendly system is designed to bridge what we see as a gap in communications between the authorities and the community It allows the community to take the initiative in a proactive way without becoming mired in local bureaucracies. It helps them take a share of the responsibility in making their neighbourhoods safer places to live and work. The systems uses unique Flash mapping technology that allows instant incident location mapping The CommunityAlert employs a relational database that allows users to document relationships among alleged wrongdoers, particular locations, and particular types of incident. The relational feature of the database allows for more sophisticated incident reporting – allowing, for example, a search for incidents by location and by incident type, but also saves time by allowing users to relate new alleged incidents, properties, and wrongdoers to previously reported complaints. An equally important feature of the CommunityAlert is its ability to route complaints to the right enforcement agency. Using programming logic, the recipient reads each incident report submitted by a user and, based on the information for the participating jurisdiction, forwards the report via to the appropriate enforcement agency This can be done automatically without the intervention of a third party but for this pilot the coordinator will use his local knowledge to redirect the information to the correct agency. This feature allows community members to make reports about a broad spectrum of issues without having to wade through the local bureaucracy every time a report is submitted. It gives the community a degree of ownership and importantly allows the authorities to feedback to the community It gives the community a degree of ownership and importantly allows the authorities to feedback to the community It may encourage the community to report on incidents that they had previously thought unimportant but which, if allowed to fester may lead to more serious wrongdoing It may encourage the community to report on incidents that they had previously thought unimportant but which, if allowed to fester may lead to more serious wrongdoing

Sequence of communication Community initiated incident report Borough Council Homelessness Unit, DAT, DART etc CommunityAlert Coordinator Police Dedicated mailbox – Intelligence Unit – local sector

For more information contact; CommunityAlert Coordinator