In Dorset, five people have been given total bans from pubs and clubs in Christchurch, thanks to the town’s Pubwatch scheme.
Pubwatch was set up in Christchurch in summer 2008 for the safety of staff working in licensed premises and to reduce the number of alcohol-related incidents.<br><br>More than 40 licensed premises (including pubs, clubs, hotels and cafes) are now part of Christchurch’s Pubwatch group.<br><br>Section Commander for Christchurch, Inspector Andy Earley said: “One man has recently been given a five year ban, and that’s a long time not to be able to get a drink in your local pub. This sends out a strong message to party-goers who think that they can cause trouble or be a nuisance in Christchurch – they won’t get away with it.”<br><br>Pubwatch is a community-based crime prevention scheme, organised and run by licensees, but with the support of Dorset Police and Christchurch Borough Council.<br><br>The aim of the group is for licensees to offer each other support, exchange information about potential troublemakers and to discuss problems affecting the whole area.<br><br>At the first meeting, Christchurch licensees agreed on a “ban from one, ban from all” policy with the length of ban averaging between one and five years.<br><br>If a person is banned from one pub, the case is discussed at the next Pubwatch meeting and action is agreed. The police will then circulate the individual’s details to all members.<br><br>Since the introduction of the Pubwatch group six months ago, four men, aged 60, 34, 32, 22 and one woman, aged 28 have been given a ban. A further two men, aged 33 and 24 have received warning letters.<br><br>Inspector Earley continued: “Pubwatch started because there was no real forum for licensees in Christchurch to get together and discuss any problems they were experiencing with party-goers."
Elsewhere in Dorset: Assistant Chief Constable Mike Glanville said: “The odds are well and truly stacked against anyone thinking of causing trouble in Bournemouth and Weymouth town centres. With all the prevention measures we have in place, including CCTV coverage, the support of pub and club licensees and a strong police presence on the streets at key times, those who commit violent crime are very unlikely to get away with it.
“This is a reassuring message for all the law-abiding people who simply come into the towns to take advantage of the vibrant nightlife on offer. They can feel safer in the knowledge that ‘most serious violent crime’ and ‘assaults with less serious injury’ have reduced in Bournemouth and Weymouth since 2005, and we are constantly employing both tried and tested and new measures to ensure this decrease continues.”
Officers from the two resorts have launched a series of new policing initiatives to work alongside current activities to ensure law-abiding pub and club goers feel safer and continue to enjoy the nightlife in both of these resorts.
Bournemouth and Weymouth police and their partners in local authorities, trading standards and the licensing trade currently deploy the following methods: high visibility, targeted police patrols as and when demand requires, the use of CCTV (130 cameras operating in Bournemouth, 40 are in place in Weymouth), a radio link between pubs and clubs, multi-agency licensing visits, street pastors (in Weymouth), section 27 dispersal orders (power to move individuals from a public place) and alcohol test strips.
Further measures being introduced under the campaign in Bournemouth include taxi marshals; a police officer, alongside regular operators, working in the CCTV suite directing foot patrols; anti-social behaviour patrols and enhanced high visibility patrols with some officers using head cams and other filming equipment to record any incidents of anti-social behaviour. Meanwhile, in Weymouth, new measures include incorporating fast food outlets into the Drink Safe Street Safe scheme; test purchasing at pubs and clubs with Trading Standards; improvement in Pub Watch; door staff trained by police; the use of Spikeys, which attach to the top of bottles to deter drink-spiking.
