To coincide with the start of the 2005-6 soccer season, West Yorkshire Police and four of the county’s football clubs joined together to combat football-related violence.
Police and Clubs Together Against Violence (PACT) sees Leeds United, with the support of Bradford City, Huddersfield Town and Halifax Town, share information such as photographs about football disorder. The agreement signed by the force creates a formal information system. Hence anyone subject to a football banning order or a PACT ban does not attend any of the four clubs’ grounds. Some 102 Leeds United fans have banning orders from criminal courts, 35 Bradford City, 23 Huddersfield Town, and one Halifax Town. Assistant Chief Constable David Crompton of West Yorkshire Police said: “Football related anti social behaviour, including violence, disorder and racist behaviour, remain significant issues for the four clubs and the force. We want to eradicate these issues from grounds and surrounding areas, and together we can work towards this target.”
The Crown Prosecution Service meanwhile warned that hooligans who cause trouble in or around grounds in the coming season risk losing their passports.
CPS prosecutors and the police have agreed to operate a presumption in favour of prosecuting troublemakers rather than cautioning so that prosecutors can apply for a Football Banning Order. This prevents those subject to the order attending a domestic football ground or travelling out of the country any time the England or Wales team is playing abroad. CCP for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Nick Hawkins, who led a crackdown on football hooligans in the Portsmouth area, said: "We are going to show football hooligans the red card. We know that the vast majority of England fans have a fantastic reputation both at home and abroad. We want to avoid a few troublemakers turning up to ruin both the enjoyment and reputation of law-abiding fans and making local residents’ lives a misery.
"Hooligans hate and fear Football Banning Orders, so the Orders are a key weapon against them. Most hooliganism takes place away from football grounds, often affecting local public houses. Organised hooliganism can involve rival groups of fans meeting some distance from the ground. Railway and bus stations have also been the scenes of disorder.
"The action starts now. If you cause trouble at a domestic match, or related to one, you are almost certain to be prosecuted and we will apply for a Football Banning Order, which will ban you from every football ground in England and Wales for three years.
"If England or Wales qualifies for the World Cup or Euro 2008, you won’t be going. All Football Banning Order subjects risk having their passports taken away every time the England or Wales team or the team they support travel abroad. Not only will you not be able to go to a football match abroad during those times for at least the next three years, but neither will you be able to travel out of the country on holiday or business."
ACPO say
David Swift, ACPO lead on football related matters and Deputy Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police said: "Part of our policing strategy for the World Cup is to maximise the number of bans against those individuals who represent the greatest risk to violence and disorder and as such we welcome the approach to be followed by the CPS.
"There are currently 900 individuals who are being targeted by 29 dedicated policing operations across the country. Those officers will be seeking direction from the CPS on the evidence they have collected and the positive approach to prosecution should increase convictions and bans. Most importantly it will help reduce the likelihood of violence by the English in Germany." Every police force and CPS area will adopt the same protocol to prosecute offenders around domestic matches this season rather than issue cautions or fixed penalty notices. The prosecutions will allow banning orders to be added which include passport confiscations. This protocol, signed in August between the CPS and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), will be backed up by closer working practices with a plan being phased in to give police direct access to prosecutors who can then give immediate charging decisions.
