Police have been granted a dispersal order to help them target troublemakers in Spondon.
The decision to introduce the order has been taken by Derbyshire police and Derby Community Safety Partnership, in consultation with other partner agencies and Derby City Council, to respond to community concerns and target an increase in anti-social behaviour.
The order gives uniformed police, including PCSOs, the power to ask groups of two or more people who are causing anti-social behaviour to move on.
Once individuals have been asked to leave they can then be excluded from a specified area, stated by the officer asking them to leave, for up to 24 hours.
Youths under the age of 16 can be taken home by officers as part of the order which started on Thursday, March 21 and will run until Wednesday, September 4.
The order was brought in to help police target the concerns of local residents and business owners about anti-social behaviour, including underage drinking and damage.
Officers from the Spondon Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team brought these concerns to a partnership meeting between Derby City Council, local residents, retailers and licensees.
They all agreed to the application for a dispersal order and the adoption of a number of strategies to deal with the problem, including increased patrols.
Team Sgt. Graham Young said: “In response to concerns raised by local residents, the local Safer Neighbourhood team worked with our partner agencies to address the issue of young people gathering in large groups causing nuisance behaviour in the Spondon area.
“The large groups of young people have caused problems with noise, litter and intimidating behaviour in the evenings that could not be allowed to persist.
“Spondon is a lovely suburb of Derby and we intend to return it to the way it should be by enforcing these new powers with immediate effect.”
Posters and leaflets about the dispersal order, along with a map showing the exclusion area, are being handed out to local residents and young people.
Any individual who refuses to comply with the order can be arrested and may face up to three months in prison or a £2,500 fine.
For further information contact the Spondon Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101, the non emergency number for Derbyshire police, or email [email protected] .
