Police crackdown as Northamptonshire town targeted as place to go for 'aggressive begging'
Police are cracking down on “aggressive begging” in a Northamptonshire town, after it became known people would travel there specifically to ask for money in an “aggressive” way.
Operation Hanson was established to deal with people travelling into Daventry from elsewhere and asking for money aggressively.
Officers used community protection warnings, progressing these to community protection notices and then arrests where required.
The police team also now have powers to issue fixed penalty notices for breaches of public spaces protection orders (PSPO), which are used to tackle specific unwanted activities such as street drinking.
Daventry Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant Greg Harrison said: “Daventry is a very safe and friendly place to come to shop, work or socialise, and we don’t normally have issues with any form of begging.
“When our regular patrols identified a number of people had begun travelling into Daventry from elsewhere, taking up residence on the streets and in some instances harassing people or acting aggressively while begging, we took positive action to deal with them.
“By escalating through the powers available to us, including arrest, whilst at the same time providing them with support and relevant referrals to appropriate partner agencies, we were able to effectively disperse these individuals from the town centre and hopefully prevent their return to our streets.”
Organisations across the county, including Northamptonshire Police, are coming together in support of the Home Office campaign, Safer Streets Summer.
This partnership campaign is working to improve town centres by tackling the issues that matter to people, including anti-social behaviour, to make communities safer for everyone.