A relentless crackdown on antisocial behaviour has seen Kent Police issue more than 250 formal warnings and notices to the county’s most persistent troublemakers.
Nuisance motorists, street drinkers, shoplifters, and individuals orchestrating mass gatherings via social media are among those targeted so far this year, with officers delivering stark instructions to change their behaviour or face severe consequences.
Force data reveals that officers have issued 217 Community Protection Warnings (CPWs) to individuals causing disruption, alongside 51 Community Protection Notices (CPNs) to those who completely ignored earlier warnings. Because breaching a CPN constitutes a criminal offence, a total of 66 arrests have already been made this year.
Several recent incidents highlight the scale of the police response. In late June, officers arrested a man on suspicion of affray following a beach brawl in Margate. While he was later released without charge due to the case falling short of the evidential threshold for prosecution, he was still slapped with a CPW banning him from returning to Thanet for the remainder of the summer. Around the same time, a town centre beat officer in Chatham spotted a heavily intoxicated 53-year-old man drinking with a group on the High Street, directly violating an active CPN; he was promptly arrested and charged.
Other interventions include a 24-year-old Maidstone man who received a CPW after using social media to encourage a mass gathering in Broadstairs over the spring bank holiday, which police believe directly fuelled local disorder. In mid-May, a 56-year-old man was issued a CPW following reports of aggressive and threatening begging in Maidstone town centre, while officers responding to complaints about nuisance vehicles on the A228 Snodland Bypass intercepted and issued a warning to the driver of a sports car attempting to flee the scene.
This surge in enforcement coincides with Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week, a national campaign uniting policing, housing, local government, and community partners to highlight how disruption is being tackled across the country.
Superintendent Rob Marsh, Head of Strategic Prevention, said:
‘Community Protection Warnings and Notices are invaluable because they give persistent troublemakers the chance to address their behaviour and potentially avoid criminal action being taken against them.
‘Those who choose to ignore the opportunity and continue to cause harm within their communities are regularly arrested and brought before the courts, where the maximum penalty for breaching a CPN is a £2,500 fine.
‘We do not tolerate any form of antisocial behaviour and will continue to use every power at our disposal, which also includes Criminal Behaviour Orders, dispersal orders, property closure notices and more, to crack down on those who think it is OK to cause a nuisance to others.’
Members of the public can report antisocial behaviour online via the Kent Police website, though emergencies should always be reported by calling 999. An accompanying video detailing the recent operations is also available on the force’s YouTube channel.