Sarah Jones brought Respect Orders into force on Monday in Newcastle-under-Lyme, giving police and councils new powers to target people responsible for persistent anti-social behaviour. The orders can be used to bar repeat offenders from town centres and other hotspots, and courts can require treatment or anger management.
Jones said: "Respect Orders are for adults, the people you see in your town centre that you know are persistently causing anti-social behaviour," as she promoted the new powers in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Breaching a Respect Order is a criminal offence, and offenders could face prison.
Sharron Foley in Newcastle-under-Lyme
Sharron Foley, who owns a town centre cafe in Newcastle-under-Lyme, said anti-social behaviour had become a daily occurrence. She said drinkers openly carrying cans, suspected drug use and street abuse had become familiar sights, and some customers were reluctant to visit her business.
Outside her cafe, Foley said: "It's not a good place at the minute" and "I don't feel the town is safe any more." She also said she had kept the glass screen installed inside her cafe during the Covid pandemic because, for her, it was protection.
Cliff Goodwin on enforcement
Chief Insp Cliff Goodwin said the orders came with teeth. He said: "That's going to allow officers to arrest people who are in breach of these orders, where we didn't necessarily have those powers with injunctions," adding that they should "hopefully give communities a greater sense of control".
Goodwin said Newcastle had anti-social behaviour issues, but said it was no different from other places across the country. That leaves the new orders as a practical enforcement tool rather than a signal that the problem is unique to one town, with the main unknown now being how quickly police and councils start using them in practice.
