Using ECINS as the Primary ASB Reporting Tool Between Police and Local Authority Partners

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is often not a “single incident” problem. It is a repeat-pattern problem—repeat locations, repeat cohorts, repeat victims, repeat calls for service. The challenge is that the response is frequently fragmented: police and local authorities hold different datasets, apply different thresholds, and work from different workflows. There is a distinct need for an ASB reporting tool that works.

This matters because ASB is a high-volume demand driver. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (year ending March 2025) reported 35% of people experienced or witnessed ASB, and police-recorded ASB incidents remained around one million.

At the same time, current statutory guidance reinforces a victim-focused approach and highlights the importance of partnership working so reports do not get “lost between reporting arrangements” across agencies.

This post sets out a generic reference workflow showing how police forces and local authority partners can use ECINS as the primary reporting and case management tool for ASB, without relying on spreadsheets, disconnected inboxes, or manual handoffs.

 

The problem: what breaks down in “traditional” ASB operating models

Across many partnerships, the same operational issues appear:

1. Multiple reporting front doors
   Public reporting forms, police call-handling, council contact centres, housing reporting portals—each capturing different data, in different formats.
2. No single source of truth
   Police see incident demand; councils see tenancy, environmental, and community safety context; neither has the full picture without manual reconciliation.
3. Slow triage and inconsistent thresholds
   Repeat incidents can take weeks to link properly, which undermines victim confidence and delays early interventions.
4. Weak operational oversight
   If performance reporting relies on manual exports, the partnership cannot reliably answer:
   “What is the repeat rate by location?” “Where is harm concentrating?” “What interventions are working?”

This is precisely why national direction has emphasised stronger local multi-agency working and hotspot-focused responses.

 

The “reference” solution: ECINS as the shared ASB reporting and caseworking platform

What “good” looks like

A single, secure platform where:

• The public and partner agencies can report ASB through controlled channels
• Police can capture ASB via their operational workflow, including required risk and incident fields at creation
• Repeat incidents are linked and monitored, not duplicated
• Police and local authorities work from a single shared record with role-based access
• Incidents auto-route to the correct team via geographic logic (e.g., beat code area)
• Performance analytics feed directly into Power BI for operational oversight
• ECINS integrates with command-and-control platforms via APIs to reduce double-keying
• Call-handling teams have a shortened, pace-of-work entry screen that still preserves data quality

 

End-to-end workflow in ECINS

1) A public-facing ASB reporting tool (for citizens and partner agencies)

ECINS provides a public reporting route that can be made available to:

• Members of the public
• Housing providers and accredited community safety staff
• Third-sector partners operating under agreed protocols

Key capabilities:

• Custom questions per ASB type (noise, harassment, criminal damage, nuisance gatherings, off-road bikes, etc.)
• Evidence upload (photos, documents) with retention and audit trail
• Structured location capture to support routing and hotspot analysis
• Triage-ready fields (impact, frequency, vulnerability prompts, and any locally required triggers)

This aligns with the direction in statutory guidance emphasising clear reporting routes and keeping victims informed of progress.

 

2) A police-specific ASB workflow (including risk assessment and required fields at creation)

Police users access a dedicated incident creation workflow that supports:

• A structured risk assessment at the point of entry
• Capturing your required incident fields (including your OEL at creation)
• Immediate flags for vulnerability, repeat victimisation, and escalation thresholds
• Mandatory fields that protect data quality without slowing officers down

Outcome: police capture operationally meaningful data once, in a format that partners can action.

 

3) Auto-allocation to the relevant beat code area (location-led triage)

When an ASB report is created, ECINS can auto-allocate the incident to:

• The correct policing geographic area / beat code
• The relevant local authority area/team
• Any additional specialist queues (youth ASB, neighbourhoods, housing enforcement, community safety)

This ensures speed and consistency: reports do not wait in generic inboxes, and the partnership can run a clean “time-to-first-action” metric.

 

4) Creating “Monitored Cases” for repeat patterns and persistent harm

Not every report requires a full investigative case. The high-value capability is being able to quickly create a Monitored Case where:

• Repeat incidents are linked
• Patterns are visible (time bands, hotspots, repeat cohorts)
• Victim contact cadence and updates are managed
• Multi-agency actions are coordinated against the same record

This is essential in ASB contexts because statutory guidance highlights ASB Case Review processes (formerly Community Trigger) as a victim safety net, and recommends that agencies monitor and log qualifying complaints and collaborate to secure resolution.

 

5) A single source of truth for police + council partners

With ECINS, both organisations can work from a shared record while still enforcing:

• Role-based access controls
• Data segregation where needed
• Full audit trails (who changed what, when, and why)
• Consistent action tracking and outcomes

Practically, this means:

• One incident timeline
• One action plan
• One place to see escalation history and victim updates
• One reporting layer

 

6) Custom reporting and analytics directly into Power BI

ECINS can deliver structured reporting outputs that enable Power BI dashboards covering:

Operational performance (weekly):

• Time from report → triage
• Time from triage → first action
• Overdue actions by team/agency
• Repeat incidents by location/time band

Partnership outcomes (monthly/quarterly):

• Hotspot concentration changes
• Repeat victimisation indicators
• Intervention effectiveness by ASB type/location

This aligns with national focus on stronger accountability and better visibility of response.

 

7) APIs with command-and-control systems for real-time ASB transfer

To reduce double entry and lag, ECINS can integrate through APIs with command-and-control systems so that:

• Incidents can be created/updated in near real time
• Key operational fields map cleanly across systems
• Data quality improves (less re-keying, fewer missing fields)
• Partners see incidents faster and can triage earlier

 

8) A shortened “pace-of-work” case for control room / call-handling teams

Control room staff need speed. ECINS supports a shortened incident entry flow that:

• Captures the minimum viable dataset at speed
• Preserves triage quality (location, harm, victim impact, repeat indicators)
• Avoids the “full case form” burden that slows call-handling

This is particularly useful where forces want to standardise ASB recording without losing operational tempo.

 

What this delivers for a partnership (in plain outcomes)

When the above workflow is implemented, partnerships typically achieve:

• Faster triage and allocation (less time in limbo)
• Better identification of repeat patterns (hotspots and cohorts)
• Stronger victim updates and confidence (clear ownership and timelines)
• Less duplication between police and local authority teams
• Meaningful performance reporting without manual collation
• A foundation for hotspot policing and problem-solving approaches supported by reliable data

 

Implementation approach (lightweight and pragmatic)

A common deployment path looks like:

1. Configure reporting front doors (public + partner + police workflow)
2. Configure beat code routing rules and triage queues
3. Define “monitored case” criteria and escalation thresholds
4. Stand up Power BI feed and initial operational dashboard
5. Integrate command-and-control API (where applicable)
6. Deploy the shortened call-handling screen for high-volume entry

 

Sources

 Crime in England and Wales – Office for National Statistics