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enfield council logo no paddingEnfield Council is consulting the public about proposals to introduce a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) intended to reduce some types of "anti-social behaviour".

The proposed PSPO would prohibit certain activities or behaviour considered to be unacceptable.  Though the prohibitions would be included in a single borough-wide PSPO, some of the activities would be prohibited only in specified areas of the borough or in designated places.

Breach of a requirement in a PSPO is a criminal offence which can result in a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of up to a maximum of £100, or a fine of up to £1,000 if prosecuted. The Council and the Police are authorised under the Act to enforce PSPOs.

The Council carried out a public consultation during 2016 in order to discover what activities were considered problematical throughout the borough or in particular localities and to gauge people's views about introducing a PSPO.  Following analysis of the results and an evidence review, the draft proposals have been amended..

The amended proposals are now being consulted on - the deadline for responses is Monday 18 September 2017.

The proposals relate to:

To see exactly what would be covered under these headings, read the Background Information document (or, in the words of the Council website,  "We suggest that you read our proposals before telling us your views").

"Car cruising" would be covered by the PSPO only along the A10 and A406, in the Ravenside Retail Park and in the Tesco Car park in Glover Drive.  Hopefully, that does not give licence for "speeding, driving in convoy, racing, performing stunts, sounding horns and revving engines as to cause nuisance, wheel spins etc" on other roads!

Links

Enfield Council to launch anti-social behaviour clampdown (news item on Council website)

Public Spaces Protection Order Consultation (introductory information on Council website)

Background Information (details of activities prohibited by the PSPO)

Online consultation questionnaire

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Darren Edgar posted a reply
05 Sep 2017 14:45
Great initiative and all worthy causes for greater attention - even if I doubt we'll see much in the way of actual prosecution!

Another consultation responded to, thanks for posting.
Bill Linton posted a reply
05 Sep 2017 22:07
I have some concerns about this. Any additional powers given to the police need close scrutiny and a very good reason. I am not convinced that the powers they already have are insufficient, though I am open to persuasioon. The lesson of history is that if the police ARE given extra powers they will use them, often in situations they were not intended for. I am thinking of Stop-and-search (much overused and racially-targetted) and the use of tasers which are supposed to be a last resort but often in practice used at the first sign of resistance.

Also, PSPOs are supposed to be used where ASB can be expected in a particular location - blanket coverage of the whole borough is a misuse of an already dubious instrument.
Darren Edgar posted a reply
14 Sep 2017 10:37
You do the police a great dis-service, clearly reading too much over-hyped media. Tasers aren't used at the 'first sign of resistance' whatsoever, the police take on a huge number of unstable and potentially violent situations without immediately reaching for a taser.

And the biggest issue with stop and search is it isn't targetted enough. Pathetic to think they need to stop and search old grannies, businessmen, school kids etc etc just to unskew the statistics when the reality is they should be targeting those most likely to be the source of crime S&S is intended to stop.

Of the above, only prostitution is one where the perpetrator may also be a victim, the rest are just bad people doign bad & unpleasant things and anything to stop this is over-whelmingly positive.
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