In recent months West Devon Neighbourhood Policing team have been working alongside West Devon Borough Council and our Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership to formulate the proposed new Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) for Tavistock and Okehampton. 

These are useful tools for Police and partners to utilise in tackling anti social behaviour and the proposed areas and conditions are evidenced by Police incident and crime data. The following summarises the rationale behind these propositions. 

Tavistock

Tavistock currently has a PSPO in place in the meadows which empowers Police to confiscate alcohol where there is a belief that It will contribute to anti social behaviour. This has been effective in the Meadows in reducing incidents, however it is displaced a lot of the alcohol related anti social behaviour into the town centre and surrounding areas. The proposal is to extend this area to the entire boundary of the town, therefore allowing Police to respond consistently across Tavistock to alcohol fuelled ASB. It is important to understand that this is not anti alcohol and this will not affect alcohol consumption where there is no element of poor behaviour associated with it. 

In addition a dispersal power is proposed which will empower the Police to disperse any individuals for up to 24 hours, therefore preventing further issues and repeated drain on our resources. If these dispersals are breached it can result in arrest. The intended result is Tavistock Police having more time to deal with other issues affecting where you live. 

Okehampton

The proposal for Okehampton mirrors the Tavistock proposition. Okehampton has not to date had a PSPO in place so this will empower our staff to be robust around anti social behaviour linked to alcohol across the town. In the last 12 months there have been several spates of poor behaviour linked to alcohol around the town centre, Simmons Park and around residential developments which we could target more robustly with the proposed powers which also include the dispersal option. 

West Devon Borough Council's public consultation is available at Let’s talk about alcohol in public spaces | West Devon Borough Council 

We welcome the public's feedback which can be submitted on the above link.