UK riots: police could get new curfew powers, says Theresa May

Home secretary says it is time to consider whether police need power ‘to impose a general curfew in a particular area’ in the aftermath of last week’s riots New police powers to clear the streets and create “no-go” areas for the public are being considered, the home secretary, Theresa May says. She said it was now time to consider whether the police needed a power “to impose a general curfew in a particular area” in the aftermath of last week’s riots. The home secretary said the government was also considering tougher powers to impose curfews on individual teenagers under the age of 16. In a speech in London May said the power to declare a general curfew was needed because existing dispersal powers only allow the police to declare a “no go” area with advance notification. “In the fast-moving situation we have seen in the last week we need to make sure the police have all the powers that are necessary,” said May. The home secretary also defended her decision not to delay the appointment of the new Metropolitan police commissioner to enable a foreign national such as Bill Bratton to apply for the job. May is also writing to Sir Denis O’Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, saying that forces should be given clearer guidance on tactics, pre-emptive action, the number of officers trained in public order policing, the need for forces to assist others, and the appropriate arrest policy. O’Connor warned earlier this year that more than two in five forces were unprepared to help police major protests. May rejected calls from senior officers to reconsider the government’s 20% cuts to police budgets in the wake of the riots, saying the disturbances of the past 10 days showed the reforms were now more urgent than ever. “I am clear that, even at the end of this spending period, forces will still have the resources to deploy officers in the same numbers we have seen in the last week,” she said. “It’s clear to me that we can improve the visibility and availability of the police to the public. “It’s more important than ever that we do so, because we are asking the police to fight crime on a tighter budget.” UK riots Theresa May Police Metropolitan police London Crime Alan Travis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 16, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.