48-hour Dispersal Zone to be introduced in Birkenhead today

Officers from the Birkenhead local policing team will be introducing a 48-hour Dispersal Zone today in response to recent anti-social behaviour and criminality in the area.

It will come into place at 5pm today, Thursday, 29 October will run until 5pm on Saturday 31 October.

The order comes under Section 34 of the Anti-Social Behaviour & Policing Act 2014, which gives police officers and police community support officers powers to direct people they suspect are causing or likely to cause crime, nuisance or anti-social behaviour to members of the public to leave a designated area for up to 48 hours. It is a response to recent reports of anti-social behaviour and criminality in the area.

Should a person who has previously been directed to leave the area return, an offence would be committed, which they may ultimately be arrested for.

The area covered by the order is show on the attached map, and covers: Cleveland Street/Argyle Street/Argyle Street South/Elm Grove/Willmer Road/Balls Road East/Balls Road/Slatey Road/Park Road South/Egerton Road/Forest Road/Park Road West/Park Road North/Duke Street

Birkenhead Community Policing Sergeant Alan McKeon said: “People in the community will have seen these zones in place in recent weeks, and now is a good opportunity to show the positive effects that they have had. We’ve issued dispersal notices to individuals and groups, seized bikes, and then followed up with enquiries with the anti-social behaviour team. This allows us to either issue letters home to parents or put in place acceptable behaviour contracts to ensure that these issues don’t reoccur.

“We’ll look to take similar action this time round, so I’d urge parents and guardians to keep a track where young people in your care are this weekend. Anti-social behaviour of any type will not be tolerated and anyone caught committing this type of offence will be dealt with firmly and robustly. No one should have to suffer being the victim of anti-social behaviour and I would like to reassure everyone that there will be extra high-visibility patrols in the area.

"We know the vast majority of young people have respect for other people and their property but we know the behaviour of some can go beyond fun.

"I would urge those young people who may be considering behaving in an unacceptable way to think about what you are doing and how you may make other people feel. How would you feel if a member of your own family was too frightened to leave their own home or walk down the street? Under no circumstances is it ok to throw things at people or their homes, commit criminal damage or abuse or intimidate people.

“Anyone involved in criminal behaviour could be arrested and receive a fine, a criminal record or even jail time. If your child is under 16 then you will be liable for payment of any fine.

“By taking some simple steps it could prevent that knock on their door from a police officer informing them that their child has been arrested or, worse still, has been involved in a serious accident.”

To report a crime, always contact 999 in an emergency. Alternatively, you DM @MerPolCC, call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. You can also follow @WirralPolice on Twitter and Facebook for updates and advice.