A-Z of Crime Prevention: OPEN CONTAINERS OF ALCOHOL (PSPO)

Good afternoon Resident

I hope you are well and are ready for this week’s instalment of the A-Z of Crime Prevention advice for the St Albans District. This week we are focusing on the letter ‘O’ which was a slight challenge. What I will be addressing in this message is the Public Spaces Protection Order (also known as a PSPO) issued by St Albans City and District Council in October 2023. This Order came into effect to tackle any anti-social behaviour associated with street drinking in our City. We are aware of the detrimental impact drunken and persistent behaviour can have on the community, so we work alongside St Albans City and District Council to enforce this PSPO. 

Under Section 59 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, a Public Spaces Protection Order can be granted to equip authorised persons from the local authorities, Police Officers, and Police Community Support Officers with powers to require individuals to surrender alcohol in their possession. These powers are available to us in situations where a person has already breached the conditions of a PSPO or has the intention of breaching it without intervention from a local authority or the Police. With this power, we can require a person not to consume alcohol or something we believe is alcohol; or to surrender any alcohol or containers for alcohol. Failure to comply with such an order results in an offence being committed, for which a person could receive a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of £100!

Addressing street drinking and associated anti-social behaviour remains a priority for St Albans City Centre with officers regularly utilising these anti-social behaviour powers so that the streets remain a safe and welcoming place for locals and visitors alike. Operation Hotspot is a targeted, high-visibility Operation which regularly operates in addition to daily policing to demonstrate our commitment to rooting out any persistent and unreasonable behaviour. You can read more about Operation Hotspot by clicking the following link to a Herts Police news article: Violent crime and ASB down following dedicated operation in St Albans | Hertfordshire Constabulary. 

Don’t forget, you can let us know what priorities you want us to focus on in your local area. Reach out to us by replying to this message or by completing one of our Priority Surveys. By providing this feedback, you will be influencing how we direct our resources in your community. 

Please click here to complete the survey

Thank you once again for reading and your ongoing engagement. Next week, we’ve got the letter ‘P’! What would you like to hear about? 

Have a lovely week! 

Kind regards,

Fiona