Handling harassment, abuse and intimidation

A pressing concern facing those in public office is the increasing levels of intimidation, harassment and abuse they are experiencing. While debate and expressing different views is all part of a healthy representative democracy, these unacceptable behaviours undermine the key democratic principles of free speech, debate and engagement, and sometimes pose a risk to councillors’ safety. Thankfully, serious incidents remain very rare.

Councillors, their peers, political parties, council officers and, when necessary, the police, all have a role to place in addressing harassment, abuse, and intimidation. We are aware that the growth in public intimidation can put people off standing for election and this issue may affect some more than others. However, prospective and elected councillors should bear in mind that they are not alone in dealing with abuse and intimidation and there are an increasing number of ways to protect themselves and be supported by those around them.

General advice on handling intimidation

The most important determining factor in deciding how to respond to intimidation is the impact it is having on you. Regardless of what others may think, if it is having an effect on you, then that is sufficient enough for you to take action.

Key points:

· Councillors are encouraged to keep a record of any intimidatory communication or behaviour

· Contact with unknown or anonymous individuals should be undertaken with care.

General advice

Below are a suggested set of actions that you could undertake if you consider you are being subjected to intimidation:

· Make sure that your immediate safety is not at risk. Make sure you are safe.

· If possible, record or diarise the encounter or communication. In the case of an email or letter you can copy or save it. A telephone call or face-to-face discussion and social media incident could be written in a diary as soon as possible after the event, recorded, screen-shot or saved. You can also take photos of damage or even a computer screen. Even if this is the first or only incident, others may also have been subjected to intimidation and a collective record is important if future action is going to be taken. It is also important that incidents relating to the same individual or individuals should be recorded as such evidence could be critical if the matter gives rise to a criminal prosecution.

· Raise the incident with a view to discussing it or obtaining support from a nominated council officer and/or political group nominated person. This will also help you establish if others have been subjected to the same or similar intimidation.

· If a serious potential crime has occurred, it is advisable to formally report it to the council and/or to the police, particularly in the context of a serious threat to life or anticipated violence.

· If you are concerned about your personal safety, raise this with the council and the police so that there is a record of the impact the incident is having and review your own security and personal safety. This could include your personal or work activities and those of your family.

· Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, councils have a duty to safeguard their staff against potentially violent persons and often have a register with names of such parties. Although councillors are not employees in the legal sense, treating them as such in this instance will enable the council and the councillor to ascertain if the individual or individuals who have intimidated them is on such register and, if not, ensure that that their name is added.

· Every situation will be different, and it will need a personal judgement about whether it is worthwhile to pursue the incident, ignore it or politely acknowledge.

· If the letters or emails continue further steps may need to be considered such as advising the individual that such abuse will result in a referral to the police and the stopping of further correspondence.

Intimidation on the telephone

· Continue to be polite and try to stay calm – ensuring you are safe

· If you have a recording function on your phone, particularly if it is a mobile phone, switch this on. You can also use your mobile phone to record a landline call by switching on the voice recording function and holding it to the landline phone

· Try to ascertain the complaint if there is one and indicate to the person on the phone that you consider that they are trying to intimidate you and that calls may be recorded

· Try to ascertain the name, address and telephone number if you can

· Remember not to reveal any personal details

· Sometimes a suggestion that the caller refers the matter to the standards committee of the council may result in a solution for the caller

· If the call continues with threats, abuse and/or intimidation, you can terminate the call, indicating to the caller that you will do this

· Make a note of any details of the call you can remember, particularly the person’s phone number

· If you are concerned make a report to responsible officer at the council.

Handling abuse on social media

This section provides advice on handling intimidation and abuse online. 

Key points:

· Keep a record of any abuse

· Carefully consider how and whether to respond to inaccurate or defamatory social media comments

· Report any abuse to the social media companies for its deletion or to raise concerns about an account.

Remember you can also mute, unfriend, hide, block interaction with certain accounts, or leave a group or the social media system if the intimidation continues or is causing you distress and anxiety. 

Blogs 

While scrutiny is a key part of local democracy and accountability, on occasions, some blogs may make unfair comments or untrue allegations or may include abusive or threatening commentary. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, there are no ‘community rules or standards’ to moderate or challenge such content.

Depending on the nature of the comments, councillors therefore have several choices:

• ignore them altogether and hope that few people read and become aware of the comments

• engage with the blogger and seek to assure, inform or correct the comments as appropriate. Bear in mind that this course of action may fuel and prolong the debate and abusive comments further if you are concerned that the blogger is harassing you, threatening you, spreading malicious communications or is defaming or libelling you, you may wish to record any evidence (such as screen shots) and seek further legal advice or refer the matter to the police.

Councils can join the national project to recognise and defend their right to civility and respect in local councils by signing up to the NALC Civility and Respect pledge 

The LGA Guide to dealing with intimidation is attached with further detailed advice and guidance and the latest online updated version on the LGA website here - handling harassment, abuse and intimidation .  A Councillor's Guide to Personal Safety is also attached. 

 Other useful links include Get Safe Online ;  Suzy Lamplugh Trust ; The National Crime Agency's CEOP Education Team ; The Jo Cox Foundation.