CAMBRIDGE City Council is proposing to introduce a byelaw to control drinking in public places when it is linked to anti-social behaviour. It has given its citizens one week to comment, by 3rd December, and most of them will only know this if they happen to look at the council’s website:
http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/councillors/byelawnotice.htm
New powers under the byelaw:
The Police would be able to stop people from drinking alcohol in public places if they were causing, or were likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to other members of the public. In addition the Police would have the power to confiscate their alcohol. If people did not comply with instructions from the Police to stop drinking or to hand over their alcohol they could be liable to a fine.
Powers of arrest:
The Police would have powers of arrest if the person:
* Did not have a satisfactory address for service of a summons or was incapable or unwilling to give their name and address
* Causing physical injury to him/herself or any other person
* Was suffering physical injury
* Causing loss or damage to property
* Committing an offence against public decency
* Causing an unlawful obstruction of the highway
* Or to protect a child or other vulnerable individuals from that person.
Other powers:
All other existing powers of enforcement against alcohol-related anti-social behaviour would continue to apply.
Scope:
The byelaw would only apply to public places in the City and not to licensed premises such as pubs and clubs.
http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/councillors/byelawnotice.htm New powers under the byelaw:
The Police would be able to stop people from drinking alcohol in public places if they were causing, or were likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to other members of the public. In addition the Police would have the power to confiscate their alcohol. If people did not comply with instructions from the Police to stop drinking or to hand over their alcohol they could be liable to a fine.
Powers of arrest:
The Police would have powers of arrest if the person:
* Did not have a satisfactory address for service of a summons or was incapable or unwilling to give their name and address
* Causing physical injury to him/herself or any other person
* Was suffering physical injury
* Causing loss or damage to property
* Committing an offence against public decency
* Causing an unlawful obstruction of the highway
* Or to protect a child or other vulnerable individuals from that person.
Other powers:
All other existing powers of enforcement against alcohol-related anti-social behaviour would continue to apply.
Scope:
The byelaw would only apply to public places in the City and not to licensed premises such as pubs and clubs.
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
Comment from a Cambridge resident
27.11.2003 14:52
The police already have powers to arrest these individuals and they are not using these powers:-
There are existing powers of arrest for:-
• Being drunk in a public place
• Being drunk and disorderly
• Vagrancy
• Threatening behaviour, which should cover most cases of “aggressive” begging
• Behaviour which is likely to cause a breach of the peace
• Obstruction of the highway
These existing powers are not being used. How is the creation of yet another byelaw going to change this situation?
There are also powers to exclude people from the city if they cause a persistent nuisance through drinking and/or antisocial behaviour. This power has recently been used in one case. Why can it not be used in others?
A Concerned Resident
Also see...
27.11.2003 14:56
poon
Harrasment
27.11.2003 15:42
For example last week I saw a policeman rip a can out of a drinkers hand and pour it down the drain, this was outside the no drinking zone. His cry of 'where are we supposed to go' was met by a smug expression as the policeman strutted off.
Add this to CCTV, RFID tags, facial recognition, biometrics, mobile trianglation, ID cards, state data mining and all the other existing/new social controls, nice to live in Eastern Germany isnt it?
Sqoo
same type of thing is planned in Oxford
27.11.2003 18:50
We all know what that means.
The funniest thing is the student (press) is convinced this is aimed at student drinkers, when it is blatantly the homeless who will see the worst of it.
gnasher