Dorset Police, West Dorset
District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council have
agreed the use of dispersal powers under Section 30 of the
Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 to be used on the Littlemoor
estate.
These powers will be used as an
additional measure to those already being utilised to tackle crime
and anti-social behaviour in the Littlemoor area of Weymouth.
Officers will be able to utilise these
dispersal powers to direct anyone behaving inappropriately away
from the area.
The
dispersal order will start on 1 March 2013 and will remain in force
until 1 September 2013. It allows police to disperse groups of two
or more people who are acting anti-socially, or who are likely to
cause distress to other people by virtue of their presence or
behaviour within the boundaries of the dispersal order.
View the Littlemoor
Section 30 exclusion area map (288kb PDF) >
In addition to these powers, Section 30 of the
Act allows the police to take home anyone who is in a public place
within the relevant locality between 9pm and 6am if there are
reasonable grounds.
These grounds are when the person is believed
to be under the age of 16, is participating in anti-social
behaviour or affected by others behaving anti-socially, and they
are not under the control of a parent or other responsible person
aged 18 or over.
Councillor Geoff Petherick, Brief Holder for
Community Safety at Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, said:
“We are working hard alongside our partners to tackle the issue of
anti-social behaviour in Littlemoor, and it is good to see the
community unite to overcome the difficulties caused by a small
minority.
“The new measures will boost the options
police will have to combat anti-social behaviour and will mean
issues can be dealt with swiftly by officers.
“We are delighted that street lighting was
switched back on in Littlemoor and a temporary mobile
CCTV camera
has been erected in the area to improve safety and security.”
Sergeant Samuel Goom, from Weymouth and
Portland Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “These powers will give
officers additional measures to deal effectively, robustly and
promptly with anti-social behaviour on the estate.
“If you are under 16 years old and
misbehaving on the estate we will take you home and ensure your
parent or guardian takes steps to ensure it will not happen
again.
“Dorset Police has been working hard with
our partner agencies to ensure crime and anti-social behaviour is
effectively tackled on the Littlemoor estate.
“Additional CCTV cameras have been put in
place and we recently obtained an Anti-Social Behaviour Order
against an offender.
“We will not tolerate anti-social
behaviour.”
Issued: 19 February
2013.