Safer streets for Newcastle
A double initiative will make Newcastle’s town centre streets feel safer from now on.
Police are preparing to enforce public space protection orders (PSPOs) in the town centre and Queen Elizabeth Park to tackle anti-social behaviour.
And on Friday nights qualified medics will be working in the town centre between 9pm and 2am, as part of the Safer Streets initiative.
Gill Heesom, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's Cabinet member for Community Safety and Wellbeing, said:
We want our town centres to be clean, safe and attractive to everyone day and night.
The PSPOs give police officers more power to intervene when people are being unreasonable and disrupting others going about their business during the day, or having a night out with friends, and I’m sure people will notice the difference.”
She added:
I’m also very pleased that qualified medics will be working late on Friday nights and early Saturday mornings on key dates throughout the year.”
We want everyone to be safe and sound, but if necessary the medics can triage anyone who needs medical help and hopefully reduce a little pressure on the nearby A&E, so I’m grateful to the Commissioner for Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime for funding their presence.”
The PSPOs, granted by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council for three years, give officers enhanced powers to disrupt anti-social or persistent unreasonable behaviour, including:
- littering and graffiti;
- abusive language;
- being in groups of three or more after being asked to disperse;
- having open bottles or cans of alcohol.
Those found to be deliberately breaching the order can be fined up to £100 and Chief Inspector John Owen, of the Newcastle local policing team (LPT), said:
We are very proud of our town centre and want it to be a safe, enjoyable and thriving place for businesses and residents.
Whilst PSPOs are a great tool in the fight against anti-social behaviour, it isn’t about stopping people seeing their friends and experiencing the night-time economy. They are used to target those who persistently causes distress to local communities and allow us to work closely with our partners to identify those responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken.
It’s a very positive step for local policing and communities and will give us extra tools to service the priorities which matter the most.”
Referring to the presence of the medics, Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime Ben Adams said:
Significant work is already underway across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to deliver practical partnership initiatives that help people enjoy safe nights out in our popular towns and cities.
In Newcastle, we’ve allocated Safer Streets funding secured by my office for a range of initiatives such as street pastors in the night-time economy, providing first-aid trained, capable individuals who are able to help and signpost vulnerable people to safe places and support.”