Police have warned dispersal orders will be used again as they vowed to protect residents from the disturbance of night time parties and antisocial behaviour.
It comes after a 48-hour order was put in place last weekend which had an immediate effect by dramatically reducing incidents – including Covid law-breaking parties, loud music and disruption in the Arboretum, Lenton and city areas.
Officers now plan to use them on an ongoing basis at weekends as they get tough on people who cause misery and disruption to their neighbours. The next 48-hour order will start from 6pm on Friday in the Arboretum and Lenton.
The first order was put in place after police attended 23 antisocial behaviour incidents on Friday night. With the order active, this fell to 19 on Saturday and just nine on Sunday.
It gives police the power to disperse anyone engaging in antisocial behaviour in public spaces and arrest anyone who fails to comply. However the successful enforcement of the order with dispersals by officers meant they did not need to make any arrests.
Officers also used Covid-19 legislation to tackle people flouting the law by holding parties. They issued 87 fixed penalty notices over the weekend, including 54 on Saturday.
They included a gathering on a roof terrace in Derby Road, where loud noises were reported in the early hours of Saturday.
Officers attended the party and issued fixed penalty notices to seven people who showed a blatant disregard of the rules.
Chief Superintendent Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Antisocial behaviour can have a dramatic impact on families who struggle to sleep, with children kept awake and disturbance to their work and general life.
“This is really unacceptable and we will fully support people in the Arboretum, Lenton and city centre who have been impacted in this way by taking firm action against those who have no respect for the impact that their behaviour has on their neighbours.
“We showed this weekend that the dispersal order is an effective tool in keeping a lid on antisocial behaviour and where necessary we will have no hesitation in using them again.
“We continue to listen to concerns from the community and would like to reassure them that we will do everything we can to tackle the issue.”
The dispersal order in the city centre areas finished on Monday (23 March 2021) but could be reintroduced dynamically if the need arises.
Chief Supt Griffin said: “Regarding this upcoming weekend, we will have another dispersal order in place and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future and we will monitor the situation.
“Anti-social behaviour is totally unacceptable and won’t be tolerated.
“Nottinghamshire Police and partners are committed to reducing anti-social behaviour in our local communities and taking action against anyone engaging in criminal behaviour.
“When we placed the order on Saturday we said we would adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards people who ignored our previous warning by showing a blatant disregard for the Covid-19 rules and antisocial behaviour laws.
“The reduction in incidents show that our action throughout the weekend as a success.
“We increased police presence and operational patrols in the targeted antisocial behaviour areas including green spaces across the city and we were able to disperse crowds away from these locations.
“The number of reports of similar incidents we attended reduced from the previous days. We’d like to thank the vast majority for staying out of the area following the order.
“We are urging people to respect their neighbours more, especially during these times where we need to work better together.”
People can report antisocial behaviour and Covid law breaches on 101 or alternatively they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
