MP responds to police defence of actions against street drinkers in city - calling for fines to be issued

“If the Chief Constable's 'diversionary route' is working so well, why are the same street drinkers still in Cathedral Square day in day out?”
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Peterborough MP Paul Bristow has called for police officers to issue fines to street drinkers in the city centre – after the chief constable said tactics to reduce anti-social behaviour around the issue were working.

Writing in his column for the Peterborough Telegraph, Mr Bristow had called for action to stop street drinkers in and around Cathedral Square.

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He said police were now not enforcing a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in the city centre to stop anti-social and criminal behaviour caused by the issue.

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow has called for fines to be given to street drinkersPeterborough MP Paul Bristow has called for fines to be given to street drinkers
Peterborough MP Paul Bristow has called for fines to be given to street drinkers

He said: “Cambridgeshire Police told me they made an operational decision not to enforce our Public Space Protection Order.

You read that correctly. Peterborough City Council got the order in place to tackle the problem, but the police have been ignoring it - and not issuing fixed penalty notices - as a matter of policy since 2017.”

One of the conditions of the PSPO is: “Persons within the area, on the request of a Police Constable, Police Community Support Officer or an authorised Council Officer are to comply with the request to dispose of or surrender any containers of alcohol in their possession or disperse from the order area and not return within 6 hours, unless for a lawful reason.”

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However, in response to Mr Bristow’s column, Nick Dean, chief constable of Cambridgeshire Police said: “In 2017, Cambridgeshire Constabulary was an early adopter of moving to a two tier out of court disposal system; this removed fixed penalty tickets for a number of offences and steered officers to deal with issues in other ways, this included diversion, support and treatment for example, while still having the ability to arrest and prosecute for offences.

“This two-tier framework becomes law early next year under current government plans, so we will not be alone in this move; it will mean all 43 forces across England and Wales will have to abide by this new legislation. It is misleading to say that we are ignoring issues.

“Aside from the legislative angle, the diversionary route, where appropriate supports an individual, many of whom have complex needs rather than bring them into an already over-stretched criminal justice system.

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“Within Peterborough our use of Out of Court Disposals has increased by 58% and our overall prosecutions by more than 12% when comparing year end March 2020 with March 2022.”

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But Mr Bristow said the tactics were not working.

He said: “I would respectfully ask, If the Chief Constable's 'diversionary route' is working so well, why are the same street drinkers still in Cathedral Square day in day out?

"I am not ‘criticising’ ordinary police officers who I know do a challenging job. It’s not 'perceived inaction' that's the problem. The last Chief Constable banned his officers from issuing fines.

"As the Chief Constable wants to work together, I hope he will visit the businesses affected with me and listen to them. Insisting that the police have been 'hugely successful' won't go down well. I want them to do more in our City Centre. I don’t think this is unreasonable."