27304-79The campaign to stamp out anti-social behaviour has taken a fresh as new powers come into force against yobs and problem neighbours. GILES SHELDRICK reports on how the recent regulations are being used.

COMMUNITIES in Swindon are starting to see the benefit of new powers to deal with the scourge of anti-social behaviour.

Wide-ranging tactics at the disposal of the police and Swindon Council mean that authorities have never had so many weapons in the fight against yobbish behaviour.

The Crime and Disorder and Anti-Social Behaviour Acts have given police and the council wide-ranging powers to tackle everything from nuisance neighbours to gangs of rowdy youths and even prostitutes.

The armoury includes anti-social behaviour orders, post-conviction anti-social behaviour orders, dispersal orders and fixed penalty notices of up to £80.

Police can now dish out fixed penalty notices to law breakers in much the same way as Swindon Council's parking wardens currently issue tickets to illegally parked motorists.

It is hoped the new powers will mean a clampdown on instances of petty anti-social behaviour.

But the severity of the fine, which can only be given to offenders over 18, will depend on what the category of offence is.

Upper tier offences will carry a fine of £80 and include wasting police time, throwing fireworks and making false calls to the emergency services.

Lower tier offences, like being drunk and disorderly, buying alcohol for a person under the age of 18, trespassing on the railways and drinking in a public place, carry a fine of £40.

Sgt Charlie Ducker, 37, of Swindon police's central sector, said: "All officers have been trained for this and most are very positive about it, but this measure is not aimed purely at combating drunkenness. It will provide a quicker means of disposing with an offence, which is attractive for potential offenders, but they will still have the option of going to court.

"From our point of view it gives us a speedy and effective means of dealing with offenders, which will reduce a considerable burden on the court system.

"Marching drunken people to a cash point, which was the image portrayed when this was first announced, is not realistic. Besides, most people will be dealt with when they are in custody."

The new weapon is part of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and provides officers with an option to deal with offenders rather than clogging up the court system.

Similar pilot schemes are already in operation across the country, but although Wiltshire Constabulary estimates around 1,000 fixed penalty notices will be dished out within the first year of the system being operational, the money raised potentially some £80,000 will go straight into central government coffers.

Sub-officer Joe Tray, based at Swindon fire station in Drakes Way, said: "We get something like 100 malicious calls each year and any incentive to drive down this figure has to be welcomed. Our time is wasted attending hoax call outs and obviously can be better spent responding to genuine emergencies."

CENTRAL SWINDON

Community campaigner Matt McCue and his Street Watch volunteers have been instrumental in providing Swindon police with information about the activity of prostitutes, pimps and men touting for sex in the town centre.

And their tireless work the volunteers collated surveillance information almost every night for two years has paid dividends.

There are currently seven banning orders against prostitutes in central Swindon and one against a prostitute's minder.

Mr McCue said: "Two years after Street Watch was first set up we're finding more and more of our residents are able to walk the streets safely. The streets are coming back into the possession of the people and that has to be a sign that we're winning the battle."

LIDEN

Community beat officer PC John Brixey has responded to complaints about anti-social behaviour by setting up a monthly surgery where worried residents can vent their spleens about neighbourhood issues.

The surgery on Fridays from 11am to 1pm at Liden Library is the first such drop-in in Swindon.

PC Brixey, 40, said: "Wherever you find young people who complain there is not enough to do there will be a problem with anti-social behaviour. Every area in Swindon suffers from it and Liden is not the worst but that is cold comfort for those living here.

"In order for us to do something about it we need to know what the problem is. One of the problems has been that people have been reluctant to report things to the police, but we can't do anything about a problem if we don't know it exists."

STRATTON

Police signalled a return to old-fashioned techniques when they signed their first dispersal order last month.

The crackdown on rowdy youths came after they received a catalogue of complaints from worried residents, shopkeepers and homeowners about the congregating of large groups of teenagers in the area.

Dispersal orders another by-product of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 give police the power to split up groups deemed to be causing harassment, alarm or distress in a triangular area stretching from the Rat Trap roundabout at the top of Highworth Road down to Greenbridge roundabout, across to the A419 and up.

Each order runs for six months, but if youths return to the area within 24 hours and are seen to be causing trouble they can be arrested and taken before the courts, where the punishment can include a fine, up to three months imprisonment or both.

Officers can also take troublesome teenagers home to their parents to demand an explanation for their behaviour.

Police hope this new tactic will signal an end to months of drink-fuelled harassment and public order offences, which has blighted large areas of the community, specifically in Delemere Drive, Grange Community Centre and shops along Grange Drive, Ermin Street and Rainer Close.

Insp Simon Dicks, Swindon police's anti-social behaviour officer, said: "After getting the first dispersal order signed for parts of Stratton we have seen a remarkable decrease in the number of people gathering in groups, to the point where we have had calls to the divisional commander praising the police for the difference it has made.

"We have taken the matter up with schools who are pleased with what is happening and we're looking to take more dispersal orders out across the town especially with the warm weather just around the corner.

"It could well prove an effective and inexpensive policing tactic.

"People are finally realising that anti-social behaviour is a real issue that can seriously affect people's quality of life and we all want to do something address it after all police officers are human beings too and suffer these issues as well.

"Every parent has a responsibility to know where their children are and what they are doing."

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