What does this mean?
Section 30-36 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 gives police and PCSO’s in England and Wales the power to:
Disperse (move on or separate) groups of two or more young people from areas where there is persistent anti-social behaviour.
- Take home any young person under 16 who is out on the streets in a dispersal zone between 9pm and 6am and who is not accompanied by a responsible adult.
How would I know if there was a dispersal order in my area?
The police work with Wigan Council to decide if it’s a good idea to have a dispersal order in an area. This would be most likely to happen if there had been lots of anti-social behaviour in an area recently.
If there is a dispersal order in your area, a notice must be displayed in an obvious place or published in a local newspaper.
The dispersal order usually lasts for a limited time period, not more than 6 months.
What if the police ask me to move and I refuse?
This could be treated as an offence and you could be convicted. If this happened you could be fined or issued with a term in prison of not more than three months.