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Tory wants police to confiscate phones
Police should be given powers to seize yobs' mobile phones or bikes as punishment for anti-social behaviour, the Tories said yesterday.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said he wanted officers to confiscate possessions for up to a month to deter young troublemakers.
He said losing their phone or bike would be a "21st century clip around the ear" for youngsters who stepped out of line, and help to disrupt gang activity.
The idea is part of wider plans to give officers more discretion to hand out punishments in communities blighted by anti-social yobs.
Mr Grayling has already suggested young people could be grounded by the authorities and only allowed out to go to school.
In a speech to a think-tank in central London, he said Government policies aimed at tackling louts, such as anti-social behaviour orders, were "over-prescriptive" and "over bureaucratic".
He told an audience at the Centre for Policy Studies all police officers should be given more discretion and better punishments to deal with the "Nokia generation".
Informal community punishments would help police to deal with anti-social behaviour without leaving troublemakers with a long-term criminal record that could harm their employment prospects, he said.
He said: "If we are to deter potential troublemakers, the consequences they face have to be relevant to the lives they lead, and to be immediate.
"Otherwise why would they stop what they are doing?
"I'd like to see police given the power to confiscate, temporarily, a young troublemaker's mobile phone. Removing their SIM card, with all their mobile numbers and text messages on it.
"For a fortnight or a month, not permanently. But long enough to make a point."
Earlier this month Home Secretary Alan Johnson, MP for West Hull and Hessle, admitted the Government had been complacent in tackling loutish behaviour.
He revealed some victims of anti-social behaviour had to wait up to two years for the yobs who targeted them to be dealt with. While accepting the Government had "dragged its feet", Mr Johnson said he wanted to give the issue an "extra push".
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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