Leeds police impose illegal curfew powers
Published:
September 10, 2011 13:29
by
marker
Neighbourhoods: ls8
Published by group:
IMC Northern England
West Yorkshire Police have been granted new powers including a dispersal order which discriminates against the young and threatens summary eviction for council tenants.
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On Thursday 8th September 2011, police announced they had secured a range of powers to use against the people of Leeds. A new dispersal order that applies to Harehills and Gipton means that police can now ask people to leave the designated area, and arrest them if they refuse. The grounds for being asked to leave do not require that you've committed a crime, or even to have been reported doing something antisocial: the police can apply these powers if they "suspect that someone may go on to commit antisocial behaviour", in other words, to anyone.
Additionally there is a curfew excluding unaccompanied under-16s from public spaces in the designated area between 9pm and 6am.
The dispersal order covers Harehills Lane, Foundry Approach, Harehills Park View, Coldcotes Avenue, Harehills Park, Foundry Approach, Foundry Place, Strathmore Drive, Berkeley Crescent, Berkeley View, Chatsworth Road, Sandhurst Avenue, the allotments, St Wilfrid's Drive, Hovingham Avenue, Hovingham Park, the track behind Hovingham School, Ryan Place and Hovingham Avenue.
People who have had to deal with the violent gang known as "police" in these areas before will not be surprised that they are incapable of integrating with the rest of the community, and instead resort to these measures.
A particularly sinister development is the new threat of eviction, which would amount to a penalty without having committed any crime, let alone being subject to due process. This is in direct conflict with Articles 11 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has been adopted into UK and EU law.
Anyone finding themselves being harassed by the police in these areas should seek independant legal advice (from a lawyer with an interest in Human Rights, i.e. not the duty solicitors who service police custody suites.)
Links:
Anonymised link to police press release
Contact email: marker@indymedia.org
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No such thing as summary eviction
It seems you have misread and misunderstood the police press release.
There is no such thing as "summary eviction" for council tenants. Summary eviction is only possible against real squatters who have never had a tenancy or licence agreement and have occupied property without the owner's agreement, and even then it is of doubtful legality without a court order.
A local authority landlord may try to evict a tenant for breaking their tenancy agreement. Most tenancy agreements forbid tenants from causing a nuisance to their neighbours or carrying out any illegal activity in or in the neighbourhood of their home, and also makes them repsonsible for the good behaviour of any visitors or people who live with them. If tenants (or their relatives or visitors) break their tenancy agreement the council can take court proceedings to try to evict them. But to get an eviction order they have to persuade the court that they have adequate proof of how the tenant broke the tenancy agreement, and that it is reasonable and proportionate to evict them because of it. That takes some time and effort to prove and a judge will not necessarily agree that an eviction order is warranted. Believe it or not as you wish, but most district (county court) judges are not automatically anti-tenant or anti-working class.
Yorkshire Police have not bothered to put all these details on their website, but they wouldn't. Perhaps it would be appropriate to complain to them about misleading the public by putting out false information.