NTIA Say New Anti-Social Behaviour Powers Are Useless Without More Police

Following the Announcement from the Home Office that there will be a new powers for Policing in the form of Respect Orders

Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, responds:
“While we welcome any initiative that helps create safer environments and reduces anti-social behaviour, particularly in our town centres at night, we must acknowledge a crucial challenge: enforcement. The introduction of new powers, like Respect Orders, seems to be an opportunity to start to tackle some of the inherent issues. However, the real question is whether there are sufficient resources, particularly police officers, to ensure these measures are effectively implemented.”

“Many businesses across the country, especially in the night-time economy, are already stepping up by funding private security to fill the void left by the shortage of police. This speaks to a larger systemic issue — we simply don’t have enough police on the ground to address these issues at the scale we need. As a sector, we are committed to creating safe and welcoming spaces for our customers and staff, but we need the assurance that enforcement will match the new powers being introduced.”

“The focus must be on ensuring that these powers are backed by the resource to make them meaningful. Without enough police on the beat, there’s a risk that even the best-intentioned laws could struggle to make an impact. We’re working together to improve safety, but we need the Government to ensure there is enough investment in policing to make a real difference on the ground.”