Police step up anti-social behaviour patrols across Cornwall
Cornwall's Police and Crime Commissioner has praised the efforts
Extra police patrols are tackling street drinking and anti-social behaviour in Cornwall.
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cornwall, Devon and the Scilly Isles, Alison Hernandez, said officers have carried out over fifty-two hours of extra foot patrols in hotspots in the last three months.
In a video posted to the force's Facebook account, Penzance neighbourhood team lead Sergeant John Scrimgeour spoke from the scene of one of the town's problem areas.
Scrimgeour said it's often street drinking that leads to members of the public feeling intimidated, and to antisocial behaviour.
The sergeant explained that the police's method is first to explain to people, if they're within a PSPO (Public Spaces Protection Order) area, that they're not able to be drinking, or carrying open containers of alcohol.
He also said the police have powers to seize alcohol.
The praise for the force's work comes three years after the 'Out of Order' report was published by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) in 2023.
In that report, the LGSCO told councils across the country that they needed to use their powers to better support victims of anti-social behaviour.