The Police and Justice Bill has been announced by the Home Office.
According to Home Secretary Charles Clarke the bill aims to drive up standards across the police service, empower communities to take an active role in tackling anti-social behaviour and further strengthen the capabilities of the police and their partners to bear down on those who cause misery in our communities.
Measures for policing include: establishment of a Police Improvement Agency; standardisation of Community Support Officer (CSO) powers so that they can deal with more issues on the spot; ans aligning Basic Command Unit (BCU) and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) boundaries with local authorities.
Following the recent Respect Action Plan, the bill also will provide a power for CSOs to take truants back to school; and give Trading Standards Officers the power to issue penalty notices for disorder to clamp down on licensed premises that sell alcohol to under-18s.
