Eight young people have been handed their final warning after causing significant anti-social behaviour problems in the city centre.
Op Reclaim is a partnership approach to tackling the key problems affecting the city centre, including youth anti-social behaviour.
Problems include harassing and intimidating retail staff and members of the public, breaking into abandoned buildings, and carrying drugs and weapons.
A dedicated team of uniformed and plain-clothes officers has created a ‘watchlist’ of those youths causing the most problems, with new names and faces added weekly.
The team is already visiting parents at their home addresses and explaining the powers that can be used in the hope of breaking the cycle of bad behaviour.
Eight young people have been issued Community Protection Notice Warnings since the launch of the operation.
These come with strict conditions, such as not being allowed to enter the city centre or wear balaclavas.
If the behaviour continues, their parents or guardians will ultimately pay the price by being handed a Community Protection Notice (CPN).
Breaching a CPN is a criminal offence and has a wide range of consequences, including significant court fines, and the police may pursue civil orders, which could impact tenancy.
Officers have visited the parents and guardians of all eight young people who have been handed the warning notice.
The parents have been warned that action will be taken if their child’s behaviour does not change or if they do not seek support.
As part of the operation, officers have also arrested nine young people for a range of offences and issued 18 dispersal orders, preventing young people from re-entering the city for 48 hours, or they will face arrest.
City Commander Superintendent Chris Pearson said:
“We made it very clear when we launched Op Reclaim in April that we will not tolerate this type of behaviour in the city centre.
“Members of the public should not have to walk around the city centre and feel intimidated by groups of young people wearing balaclavas and bothering them.
“Store staff should not have to feel intimidated by groups of young people coming into their place of work, throwing things around, stealing things, and making their lives a misery.
“We are not only stopping these young people, but our officers are also taking them home to explain their behaviour to their parents or guardians.
“Ultimately, it will be they who pay the price for the children’s behaviour if they do not intervene or take the support that is available to them.
“It is not the job of the police to parent your children.
“Thankfully, a number of parents or guardians have engaged with the process and are putting measures in place and seeking support.
“However, those who don’t will unfortunately face the consequences.
“These are not empty promises. We will do everything in our power to ensure that the city centre is an inviting place for people to visit and to ensure the minority are not allowed in the city centre again if their behaviour does not improve.
“For those eight young people, let me be clear: this is your last strike.”
