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Clifton 'dispersal zone' anger (From York Press)
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Clifton 'dispersal zone' anger
9:40am Friday 13th March 2009
POLICE could order people to stay away from a large part of York, under new plans to combat antisocial behaviour.
Officers want to set up a “dispersal zone” in Clifton, which would give them new powers to tackle disorder.
They would be able to disperse groups of people and also ban those from outside the area for 24 hours.
PC Stuart Hodge, of the Clifton policing team, has written to residents calling for support for the plan, but local councillor David Scott today voiced concern and called for the idea to be debated at a public meeting.
He said: “Clifton should not be used as an experiment for over the top and heavy-handed policing methods.”
The proposed dispersal zone would be bounded by the railway and the A19 Clifton-Bootham road, and would include Burton Stone Lane, Kingsway North, Crichton Avenue, Burdyke Avenue and neighbouring streets.
PC Hodge said the area was based on residents’ complaints about antisocial behaviour.
He wrote: “Antisocial behaviour has been an issue for those living and working in parts of Clifton for some time. As part of my work as the neighbourhood police officer for Clifton, I have been striving to deal with this in a number of ways.”
Letters were sent to residents in February, but Coun Scott said he and his colleagues were only informed last week.
He said: “There are significant issues of freedom and liberty and no such application should be made in secret or by consulting just a selected few. North Yorkshire Police has a duty to hold public meetings to explain their intentions.
“I have so far not be given any evidence to support the need for the order, why the area has to be so large and why normal policing has failed. As a minimum, those questions need to be answered.”
He said he had also received complaints about the idea from residents, and said he had written to the commander for York and the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire, asking for an explanation.
A police spokesman said: “Around 1,700 letters will be sent to the households affected in Clifton ward as part of the dispersal order consultation process, which is still in its very early stages. If a public meeting is desired following consultation then one can easily be arranged.”
He said a dispersal zone would only be set up if supported locally, and said such orders had been successfully introduced in York before, including in Clifton.
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Your Say YourPress
York427, York says...
9:50am Fri 13 Mar 09
Guy Fawkes, York says...
10:23am Fri 13 Mar 09
Officers want to set up a “dispersal zone” in Clifton...
...with a pneumatic drill and a 15" water main?
That's kept me out of Clifton for the last few days!
warringtonyorkie, Warrington says...
10:29am Fri 13 Mar 09
tonezzzznoddedoff, york says...
10:31am Fri 13 Mar 09
GemGemGem, York says...
10:41am Fri 13 Mar 09
Guy Fawkes wrote:LOL - very true. I live in Clifton and you are right in saying that there are quite a few people on the dole, lazy etc; however, there are a few of us who work and have family values and dont need benefits. I feel there are many many people in my area who would support this as they want the area to get better. Just hope we wont all be tarred with the same brush. Believe it or not,the area is actually a great place to live - the only downfall being the youths hanging around on the night times swearing and littering. I really like Clifton but would love the police to come along and say "GET LOST" to the groups!
Officers want to set up a “dispersal zone” in Clifton......with a pneumatic drill and a 15" water main? That's kept me out of Clifton for the last few days!
goosebumps, york says...
10:48am Fri 13 Mar 09
ThisIsOli, York CC says...
10:51am Fri 13 Mar 09
GemGemGem, York says...
10:53am Fri 13 Mar 09
warringtonyorkie, Warrington says...
10:57am Fri 13 Mar 09
GemGemGem wrote:Couldn't agree more with what you are saying, a lot of the people are decent & hard working but the lack of action makes it a million times worse for those people, the anti social behaviour just get's worse and worse and ruins it for those who try to just get on with their lives. Something serious needs to be done to nip this in the budd and quick sharp!
Guy Fawkes wrote:LOL - very true. I live in Clifton and you are right in saying that there are quite a few people on the dole, lazy etc; however, there are a few of us who work and have family values and dont need benefits. I feel there are many many people in my area who would support this as they want the area to get better. Just hope we wont all be tarred with the same brush. Believe it or not,the area is actually a great place to live - the only downfall being the youths hanging around on the night times swearing and littering. I really like Clifton but would love the police to come along and say "GET LOST" to the groups!
Officers want to set up a “dispersal zone” in Clifton......with a pneumatic drill and a 15" water main? That's kept me out of Clifton for the last few days!
sun seeker's, acomb york says...
11:18am Fri 13 Mar 09
The groung work for "good" respectful behaviour begins at home. Yes its the old one, PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY!
York1900, York says...
11:34am Fri 13 Mar 09
When it was used in new earswick it worked well and it cleaned up the problem youth within weeks
The Police should have them all over York were youths gather for doing no good
GemGemGem, York says...
12:21pm Fri 13 Mar 09
Platform 9, york says...
12:37pm Fri 13 Mar 09
MattRSJ, York says...
4:13pm Fri 13 Mar 09
madness31, york says...
5:26pm Fri 13 Mar 09
4:13pm Fri 13 Mar 09
Waste of time. Police are too warm in their vans to get to the root of the problem.
Not all - there is a very frequent service of PCSO's passing my home and they are all on foot.
As for coucillor Scott perhaps if you lived in Clifton you may have been consulted - after all thats who it concerns, not the councillors. I personally am all for the order and had my form in the return post! Just hope it gets passed the narrow minded of this world.
consumer, York says...
5:49pm Fri 13 Mar 09
That'll teach them some respect.
monkey trousers, york says...
6:01pm Fri 13 Mar 09
monkey trousers, york says...
6:04pm Fri 13 Mar 09
4:13pm Fri 13 Mar 09
Waste of time. Police are too warm in their vans to get to the root of the problem.Waste of time. Police are too warm in their vans to get to the root of the problem.
by the way i saw PC HODGE walking around CLIFTON today notin a van keeping warm
LOYALISTROYALIST, york says...
8:46pm Fri 13 Mar 09
uglyboy, york says...
9:57pm Fri 13 Mar 09
What happened to this law? lost in transit presumably.
Also parents were much stricter, if you were in trouble at school or anywhere for that matter, by the time you got home your parents already knew.
Punishment followed, it did us no harm and taught us to respect ourselves and others.
A taxpayer, York says...
10:20pm Fri 13 Mar 09
offa, York says...
10:32am Sat 14 Mar 09
I'm all for liberty, David Scott, but I want the liberty to enjoy my environment without hassle.
GemGemGem, York says...
11:00am Sat 14 Mar 09
A taxpayer wrote:There are quite a few of troublemakers that come from other areas of York and therefore the police will be dispersing them outside of the area for 24 hours. Plenty of them dont come from Clifton and choose to come here as it is a hotspot. I think that is why they want the power to send them home and disperse them to prevent others from coming here. Dont get me wrong, I agree.....a lot of them are local (but not all). I do like the idea of sending them all to Hull though!
Thanks why does the rest of York want the Clifton outcasts? All this does is move the problem to someone else's area. What happens when the whole city is a zone, do the offenders get sent to Hull?
YorkieMD, York says...
4:59pm Sat 14 Mar 09
And it works. This system really did improve the wellbeing of the area, and the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour certainly has decreased, and we felt safe knowing the police were able to act swiftly but without overreacting and arresting people.
It's discretionary as well, obviously a group of teens waiting for a bus at a bus stop wouldn't get dispersed if they were going somewhere.
If Cllr King actually lived in clifton, he would have received a letter from the PC outlining the plan and the zone's boundaries. Those councillors who do live in the area would have been informed with the rest of us.
YorkieMD, York says...
5:01pm Sat 14 Mar 09
jk york, says...
9:58pm Mon 16 Mar 09
also why oh why does everyone seem to think clifton is the pits, look at the walmgate area ,tanghall or acomb as a whole, imo these places are worse , and no i dont live in clifton but visit often
Proposed Clifton dispersal zone
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GemGemGem, York says...
9:49am Fri 13 Mar 09