Coventry police keep powers to tackle violent crime in city centre
Members of Coventry City Council’s Cabinet have now agreed to renew the PSPO for another three years.
Police have kept extra powers to tackle violent crime in Coventry’s city centre for the next three years.
Cops can continue to break up gatherings of two or more people seen to be causing trouble in St Michael’s Ward and parts beyond it, councillors agreed today.
The powers come from a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) imposed on the area within Coventry’s ring-road plus Hillfields and Far Gosford Street.
The PSPO was originally put in place in 2019 for three years in a bid to crack down on gang violence and exploitation of young people by criminals.
But, after a dip during the pandemic, rates of robbery, knife crime and violent crime in under-25s (non-domestic) reached a three-year high in 2021-22.
Coventry Police Inspector Simon Finney told a meeting this week (12 April) that while the powers were used sparingly they provided significant benefits to the city centre.
He said there had been almost 50 breaches of the order in the past three years, with most of the perpetrators being under-25.
But while councillors were supportive of the order’s renewal they called for more data to see how the powers are being used to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Councillor David Welsh, who represents St Michael’s Ward, said: “What I don’t want is for it to be pushed out of the city centre into Far Gosford Street or Hillfields.”
He also criticised the council report as being “quite light on data” and said he may not support the PSPO in future if more evidence isn’t forthcoming.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, who represents the same ward, said “There needs to be evidence that these powers work” and welcomed plans to record police interactions with body worn cameras.
Inspector Finney acknowledged data is a problem but stressed there needs to be a balance so officers aren’t overburdened with admin.
Opposition leader Councillor Gary Ridley also asked why the data didn’t refer specifically to rates of child exploitation when this was a major reason for the order being imposed on the area.
Inspector Finney agreed this was a valid point but pointed out that this isn’t recorded separately in crime statistics – though knife crime and robbery can be seen as results of exploitation.
The meeting’s chair, council leader Cllr George Duggins, concluded that there needs to be work on understanding the extra powers.
He suggested the authority’s scrutiny committee take a further look before the next meeting in three years time.