Ghost Town
by Andrew Green
The Wensley estate in Fir Vale
is like a “ghost town”, according to a local
resident, due to a 9pm to 6am curfew on young people
aged 16 and under, and a power invoked under section
30 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, which allows
the police to move on any groups of two or more people
loitering on the estate. Police can take young people
home, or if home is not safe, to another safe place
such as a local authority home or police station.
The measures are the result of extensive
consultation with local residents, including young people,
according to Superintendent John Brennan. He told the
Messenger they follow on from Operation Detox 5, into
drug dealing and violent crime, which has been “a
major success”. Over 60 arrests were made in a
period of three weeks, and large quantities of drugs
and weapons were seized, including guns, knives, and
a crossbow.
The curfew and section 30 order are “a
last resort”, Supt Brennan said, and the police
were using these drastic powers sparingly. They have
made only one arrest, of a youth refusing to comply
with the curfew.
Supt Brennan agreed that much of the crime would be
displaced to other areas, and said the police were under
no illusion that they would eradicate drug dealing in
this way. Drug abuse is a social problem, rather than
a crime problem.
Alex Gask, a solicitor at human rights
organisation Liberty, told us that they believe “the
imposition of a 9pm to 6am curfew on all under 16s in
a particular area is unlawful,” because it is
an interference with Article 8 of the European Convention
on Human Rights (now part of English law under the Human
Rights Act), which guarantees everyone a right to respect
for her or his private life. The police can interfere
with this right to prevent disorder or crime, but to
deprive a whole section of the community of this right,
when the majority of them are not committing any crime,
is unlawful, Liberty argues. Liberty would like to challenge
the legality of the curfew in the High Court by taking
a test case, and invite anyone who believes their rights
under Article 8 to have been infringed, to contact them
on 020 7403 3888.
For more information see
www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/issues/curfews-more-info.shtml.
Next: Behaviour
team kept busy
What has Burngreave Anti-social Behaviour
team been doing to tackle these issues? Rob Smith went
along to speak to team leader Wendy Barlow...
Previous: Streets
of Burngreave – safe and quiet?
Having heard many complaints concerning
youth gangs and nuisance behaviour, Rob Smith went in
search of these youths...
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