do you support the police having powers to return home any unaccompanied under 16 and disperse groups of people? and why?

I can see how returning kids home can be a good thing - if nothing else for the kid's own safety. What do they do with them if no-ones in when they get them there?

depends on what time it is and where they are

Yes, providing they use it properly.

If there are under 16s who are acting irresponsibly or causing damage etc, then move them on or escort them home.

If on the other hand they are just hanging around without actually doing anything wrong, then leave them be. Moving them on and provoking a reaction will just make them dislike the police and the laws they should stand for.

I am an old woman over 30 now, but did used to hang around the local shops with a group of friends when in my teens. We didn't cause any trouble , we just weren't allowed to all be together in someones parents house. No parent wanted 15 kids in their house!

Are you asking this question with a particular incident in mind that you could tell us about?

"Do you support the police having power"

NO, make 'em use candles, and wear a thicker pully, it used to do us when we were younger!

:D

no i just wanted poeples views on the matter.

well a group of 15 kids hanging round outside of a shop would be a scenario were i would urge the police to ask the kids to move on


15 teenagers would be very intimidating for a little old lady on her way to get a loaf of bread

I read the title and though there was an special X-police team, like the X-men, but in a blue nylon uniform, with special powers.

:)

I think it would be better if they provided a place for the groups of kids I see wandering around late at night.

Absolutely! 9 times out of 10 police are acting not out of singling out youths because they're teenagers, more often than not because of their own safety. If I had a teenaged daughter who had snuck out at 1am then i'd sure hope that the police would return her home.

If numbers of adults gather then it can constitue an unlawful gathering of which the police have powers to disperse them, similar legislation should and probably does extend to minors.

I'm also one of the ones who thought that the police would be getting xray vision and extendeble body parts like the fantastic four!

Damn, this could have saved me so many taxi fares when i was a kid :wink:

Back home in Bristol the police have been given the power to move groups of children of more than 3. Not necessarily to take them home, but to prevent big gangs of kids building up. I think most of the trouble starts when the kids are in big gangs having witnessed it where my mum and dad live, so I fully support it.

I welcome any powers the police are given to move on unruly groups. These kids know their rights and how to manipulate them just right. They know that they can do whatever they wish and we have to argue to get the powers to sort things out.

If kids are on street corners and are just amongst themselves then all power to them they are just congregating in their little meeting place. This is a world apart from the yobs smashing public service areas, phone boxes, bus stops etc and intimidating the public.

If an adult does this then woe and behold is he in a world of crap. It is about time the police were given the powers to effectively give members of the public a sense of safety and stopped being pushed over.

I left school 10 years ago, and in that time kids have just gone absolutely mental and that is recent by some peoples standards. It's time that if someone crosses the line then their "rights" come under a little more scrutiny, it isnt singling out its sorting out those who make things as bad as they are getting nuff said.

End of rant

im alittle confused by the stuff people are saying in the post

just because there is a group of kids hanging about,they should be moved on?why may i ask?all there doing is having a good time,there not gonna rob everyone who goes past for christs sake!

as someone said earlier,you hang about on the streets because noones mum or dad wants 15 kids in their house,so you go sit down somewhere,do nothing wrong,and then big fat piggy shows up and moves you on for no reason

ide be pretty peeved if some cop drove up and took me home when i was on my way to a party aswell!

I think most people are mainly referring to 'unruly' or 'law breaking' kids, not the whole child population in general.

Where I walk my dog at night, (my real one, not my avatar, obviously!) I pass two groups of kids.

The first lot a mixed bunch of ages and sexes. They sometimes give me a bit of verbal, but usually lighthearted banter and I have no problem at all with these kids. I caught them smashing a milk bottle one night and went over to speak to them. I introduced them to my doggies and point out that the broken glass might end up in his paws. They apologised and said they hadn't thought of that and said they wouldn't do it again. On my return journey they had cleared up the glass into a plastic bag to take home.

The second lot of kids I pass are a different story. They are extremely abusive, regularly smash the tram stop into pieces and throw stones at passing cars. I don't go and talk to them about their behavior 'cos frankly they scare me.

In relation to this post, I would be quite happy for the police to do something about the second lot of kids, but wouldn't want to see a blanket enforcement that would hit the first lot who generally don;t cause any trouble.

Phew, feel better for spilling that lot of words out....

the difficulty is that the legisation 'could' be applied to all, it's down to police discretion as to when and how to use the powers they have.