Clause 22 - Directions to individuals who represent a risk of disorder
Violent Crime Reduction Bill
2:00 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
The clause provides the police with a new power to issue a direction to an individual to leave a locality if the presence of that individual is likely to cause or contribute to the occurrence or continuance of alcohol-related crime or disorder in that locality. The aim is simple; it is to minimise the risk of alcohol-related crime and disorder.
Amendments Nos. 86 and 87 amend the test that will be applied by the constable when considering whether to issue a direction. They introduce an explicit necessity test, so that the direction to leave should be given only if it is necessary to prevent alcohol-related crime or disorder. The test that will apply as a result of the amendment will be that the presence of the individual in that locality is likely, in all circumstances, to cause or contribute to the occurrence of alcohol-related crime or disorder in that locality, or to cause or to contribute to a repetition or continuance thereof and that the giving of a direction under this section to that individual is necessary for the purpose of removing or reducing the likelihood of there being such crime or disorder in that locality during the period for which the direction has effect.
It will be for the police to decide on the area or locality from which an individual should be excluded. That might be the operational area that needs to be policed during the evening in the entertainment district of a city centre where all the pubs and clubs are, and the test might be applied by the police within that area when they consider that an individual’s presence would contribute to crime and disorder in that area. The direction will have to be given in writing by the police and may require the individual to leave the area immediately or by such time as the police may specify.