5/16/2023 0 Comments Movealong or shift![]() ![]() For a homeless person to just sit on a bench – especially with a drink in hand – is often seen as reason enough for criminal sanction. In the case of young and homeless people particularly, their sheer presence in public space was commonly cited as “intimidating” or “anti-social”. A disabled man handing out food for the homeless was issued with a dispersal notice which barred him from central Brighton, making it a crime for him to re-enter the area. Those barred from public places include homeless people, political protesters who were chatting and “deciding where to go for a drink”, and football supporters who had pulled up by the side of the road in an isolated area. The condition for issuing a dispersal order is so low that it can be used against almost anyone. This means that the police can bar someone from the centre of town for the whole weekend if they think that person may cause trouble. Many town and city centres are now weekend dispersal zones, running from Friday until Sunday night. In one six-week period, 19 police forces used the new powers 528 times to declare dispersal areas, and dispersed 1,344 individuals. They were declared in advance of events such as a Christmas lights switch-on in Lancaster city centre, firework displays in Stoke on Trent, and a student night in Warwick, as well as several fairs. ![]() The only condition is that they “suspect” that a person’s behaviour “is likely to contribute” to causing “harassment, alarm or distress”.Ī Manifesto Club briefing document investigated the use of these powers and found that police forces are now declaring dispersal zones before almost any kind of public gathering. Once an area has been activated as a “dispersal zone” – sometimes an area as large as Liverpool city centre – police officers can then bar individuals from the area for 48 hours. Now any area can be declared a dispersal zone on the spot: a police officer need only gain authorisation from his or her inspector over the phone. Previously, areas had to be declared dispersal zones in advance, after a relatively lengthy consultation process. “Dispersal orders” are an extension of previous powers, but the key difference is that they can now be applied in any place, at any time. Some rights reserved.A little-noticed part of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, passed last October, has given the police a roaming power to bar people from public spaces. ![]()
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