Dispersal interview

Local dispersal order in town centre gets renewal from local council.
With dispersals in the town centre and its surrounding area up to the hundreds its time to ask the question how effective is the dispersal order?

Since dispersal orders have been introduced all over Swindon since 2004, there have been hundreds of cases of people being moved on by the local Police Community Support Officers since the dispersal order was put into the town centre parade. So with more and more people being moved,
what has the effect been on the streets of the town centre?

Well in an interview with the town centre PCSO James Salmond the facts speak for themselves. Over the hundred of dispersals that have been enforced there have been five arrests. Also in these 100 some have been given A.S.B.Os ranging from full town ban to total Swindon ban. This was due to abusive language towards Police and the PCSOs. Since the A.S.B.Os have been enforced there has been no hassle or problems with them, clearly showing that the presence of the Community Support is having a huge effect with this Street team success story. So from straight facts it can be seen that the effect is massive, clearly seen as the council renewed the order instantly.
“Our work is indispensable our eyes and ears help the town centre greatly.” James Salmond

The local street team is “indispensable” because without them there is “No police presence” says James Salmond. This job is clearly a hard and tiring because of the youth’s view of the Community Support being “Fake cops”, but yet the street team “unarmed and unprotected” offer such a vital service to the community and the surrounding businesses.

Due to anti-social behaviour around the parade and the large gatherings of shoppers feel “ scared to shop due to youth presence” a local mother of two Jane McNulty, 36, says and due to this, the custom of local shops and stalls is down due to lack of customers. Another fear is that of “infiltrators” in the group who could be anything from a local thief to a drug dealer. These people could influence and be the catalyst for some youth’s anti-social behaviour. James Salmond believes that “Large scale anti-social behaviour is an easy way for hardened criminals to infiltrate and bring people down”. So with the Local Community Support team obviously being a success story in its own, is there any other help to them? Well of course there are the local street team who entwine their services with the community support, adding an extra pair of eyes and ears to the city centre. Also in local development there is the new youth centre due to be built and finished in the New Year. When asked if he saw this as a helpful place for the community support officers the response I got was a positive and encouraging one and one that he really “hopes it helps and becomes a huge success”.
So with the local town centre being cleaned up we can expect a brighter, less anti-social behaviour in town for local businesses and local shoppers.