Police call for alcohol exclusion zone to help rid streets of thugs

Officers who patrol the Shiregreen area of Sheffield have compiled a report for licensing chiefs which includes a catalogue of incidents which they say are all fuelled by the abuse of drink and drugs.

Senior police now want Sheffield Council’s licensing committee to impose a so-called designated public place order or DPPO which would effectively make all streets in the community an alcohol exclusion zone.

Insp Simon Leake, who leads the Shiregreen safer neighbourhood team, has submitted a 40-page document to licensing bosses, setting out in detail the effect making an order could have on local quality of life.

He is supported by several residents who have made written statements, and local councillors who have penned letters in support of the police application to ban the drinking of alcohol in any public place.

In his report, Insp Leake tells the committee that as recently as December last year there was a stabbing at the Shiregreen Arms pub which was drink-related, and says further serious incidents continue.

He adds: “Shiregreen doesn’t just have a problem with people misusing alcohol and causing anti-social behaviour. It has a problem with people renting out social housing and using it to cultivate cannabis.

“That cannabis ends up in the pockets of young people that we search. We search those young people because we have found them on the street and they have got themselves into trouble.

“In most cases we find that alcohol is a factor and that it goes hand in hand with drug misuse.

“There are some families who are persistent problem causers, whether that is putting their neighbours through the hell of persistent anti-social behaviour or breaking into people’s houses or cars.

“Again, there is a clear thread of alcohol misuse within these families.

“I feel that Shiregreen deserves a change and it is my view that an order such as an alcohol exclusion zone will have the desired effect of showing the community that we will not stand for such behaviour.

“We want to see Shiregreen back to what it was, a community with a sense of unity, a community which will stand up to wrongdoers and knows it can rely on the support of its police and responsible agencies.”

According to figures compiled by police, there were almost 1,200 incidents of anti-social behaviour recorded in Shiregreen in the 12 months to December 2010, with many involving people who were “in drink”.

The alcohol exclusion zone is supported by Sheffield Council’s north east community assembly, which has its own budget to work on community projects to benefit its specific area.

In a letter to the committee, Coun Peter Price, the assembly’s chairman, says: “Insp Leake has provided evidence from a number of sources including police records, testimony from the community, and key statistics around the use of alcohol.

“I can also add that testimony from my colleagues representing Shiregreen and adjacent areas provides supporting evidence that there is a significant problem relating to the misuse of alcohol on streets and in public places within Shiregreen.

“This letter supports his view that an order should be made, and I have confidence in the agencies working in Shiregreen, and especially the police who would enforce such an order.”

The council’s licensing committee will decide whether to sanction the order at a meeting on Thursday. If members of the committee support the move, a 28-day consultation exercise will be carried out before any order is officially made.