Tory councillor ‘delighted’ by Met’s work, where just four arrests were made following nearly 30 stop and searches conducted over the weekend, as special powers have been introduced to allow exclusion on suspicion that someone might be ‘likely’ to commit anti-social behaviour
On patrol: the Met has authorised extra hours for officers in Purley town centre
Pearls have been dropped in Purley, where the Met Police has issued a dispersal order to deal with what they claim to have been a surge in drug dealing and related crime.
“Over the last few weeks, Purley has been experiencing an increase in antisocial behaviour, drug dealing and robberies,” the Met’s safer neighbourhood team for Purley and Woodcote said in a post on Monday.
“This has stemmed from groups of youths congregating in the area which in turn has drawn offenders into the area.”
We are, remember, barely one week into the schools’ long summer break.
“Purley SNT, along with police officers from other Croydon-based teams, have been working incredibly hard to tackle this,” said Sergeant Nathaniel Gates, who wrote the notice.
“There has been overt and proactive covert asset within Purley and this is to continue in the weeks ahead.”
He probably means that there have been patrols by uniformed and plain clothes police.
The Met’s own weekend charge sheet makes for interesting reading:
- 3 arrests for robbery: “Enquiries ongoing”
- 1 arrest for offensive weapon
- 2 community resolutions for possession of cannabis
- 26 Stop and searches
- 86 wraps of believed Class A drugs have been found discarded: “Enquiries continue”
- High-risk missing person found among a group of youths
So that’s four arrests – which may or may not lead to any convictions – after 26 stop and searches.
Could all of those stop and searches have been conducted with “reasonable grounds for suspicion”, as required by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984? Or might other factors have been at play here?
Crime hotspot: how the Met published its intention to impose a dispersal order in Purley this week
“In our continued efforts to tackle this issue, Purley SNT will be working extended hours,” Sergeant Gates wrote, while working out his overtime pay.
He then added that he was placing the whole of Purley town centre under a dispersal order (for most of Monday).
“Anyone found committing anti-social behaviour or likely to commit anti-social behaviour, or cause harassment, alarm or distress, then officers have the power to direct the individual to leave the specified area,” Gates announced.
“This will be reviewed daily and implemented as necessary. A power of arrest for those failing to comply is available to officers.” Get that: “failing to comply”. Anyone might be mistaken for thinking we are living in an increasingly authoritarian, police state.
A Section 35 dispersal order gives powers to the police under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which allows officers to direct individuals to leave a specific area for up to 48 hours to prevent disorder or harassment.
The S35 order can be in place for a maximum period of 48 hours, and needs the authorisation of an Inspector or higher rank (Sergeant Gates got Inspector Andrew Smith to rubber-stamp the Purley clampdown).
Under S35 powers, officers and “designated PCSOs” can order a person to leave the zone immediately and not return for the specified duration, while police can take under-16s back home. Refusing to comply with a direction to leave is a criminal offence that can lead to an arrest and prosecution, carrying a fine or up to three months in prison.
Delighted: Cllr Samir Dwesar
For any officer to use these special powers under S35, they need to have “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the person’s behaviour has contributed, or is likely to contribute, to “public harassment, alarm, distress or crime and disorder” and they must exercise their judgement to decide that directing the person to leave is “strictly necessary” to mitigate that risk or prevent the behaviour from occurring.
Inside Croydon’s loyal reader, being a savvy sort of person, will no doubt be very familiar with the quite alarming videos that pop up on our digital timelines on a daily basis, showing groups of police officers chasing individuals down the street, often struggling to get a situation under control, even using tasers to bring a suspect to a halt. But these video nasties are almost exclusively shot in Croydon town centre.
Is quiet, suburban Purley – albeit still without the long-promised new swimming pool – now also become so dystopian?
The Tory councillors for the affected ward were quick to claim credit for the police’s Purley crime clampdown.
“Local councillors have worked hard with local residents and community organisations to encourage every crime, however minor, to be reported,” Councillor Samir Dwesar virtue-signalled on social media.
“Over the last few days there was an obvious build-up of youth ASB in the town centre and I called 999 myself on 25/7 pm [sic].
“We’re delighted that the local SNT team took decisive action, and this has resulted in a S35 Order being issued today.”
Delighted. Indeed.
So just make sure, if you’re out and about in Purley, perhaps doing a bit of shopping in Tesco or enjoying a pint in the sunshine outside the Jolly Farmers, that you don’t get your collar felt for being likely to commit anti-social behaviour.
There’s only so much delight that Councillor Dwesar can take.
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