Glasgow police pilot local exclusion orders

Police in Glasgow are reviving a 1982 law which allows them to exclude rowdy individuals from specific parks in the city. The law had previously been applied this way four years ago but had failed due to a lack of interworking between police and local councils. Now they think they've got it right.

Strathclyde Police and Glasgow City Council have agreed to issue Asbo-like exclusion orders in a campaign largely directed at youths using parks as battlegrounds or meeting places for underage drinking sessions. The move follows a 14-month study of disorder in parks by the Gangs Taskforce, a joint operation between police and Glasgow Community Safety Services.

It had been attempted four years ago but was abandoned as too many loose ends left it open to challenges. Since then, protocols between police, council and Crown Office have been tightened.

The partners in the scheme reckon exclusions orders issued under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 would help reduce disorder and increase public safety within Glasgow’s parks. An excluded person found in a park by police could be arrested, prosecuted and, if found guilty, subject to a fine.

Police alone cannot ban individuals from parks but sections of the Act allow a local authority to exclude a person who has at least three times contravened park management rules and who is, in the council’s opinion, likely to breach the rules again. An exclusion order can exclude someone from parks for a period of up to one year.

Read the rest of this item from The Herald, Glasgow, here

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