Child curfew which sees under 16s sent home by 10pm looks set to take effect after successful trial
A ground-breaking child curfew - the first of its kind in the UK - could soon take effect in a community following a popular trial this summer.
Redruth in Cornwall is making moves to impose a permanent voluntary community curfew following its six-week trial, known as Operation Goodnight, which ran from July to September.
The police-enforced curfew to tackle anti-social behaviour encouraged under-10s to be off the street by 8pm and under-16s by 10pm.
The police-enforced curfew in Redruth in Cornwall sees under 10s sent home by 8pm and under 16s sent home by 10pm. The summer trial has been such a success that it now looks set to come into effect permanently
Children found outside after these times were spoken to by police and often their parents were called.
The scheme had a dramatic impact on crime in the area with incidents relating to anti-social behaviour falling from 24 in the same period of 2007 to only eight this year.
A poll of residents in Close Hill, where the measure was imposed, showed that 98 per cent of those surveyed wanted a curfew to remain.
This included young people, 92 per cent of whom said they felt safer during the curfew.
Kevin Hawkes, co-ordinator of the Redruth North Partnership which led the initiative, said the main change to the curfew would be to make it community- led, supported by the police and other groups.
It will continue the ethos of Operation Goodnight, but as a year-round curfew with similar time limits to those in the summer.
He said: 'Clearly there appears to be significant local support for the voluntary curfew to continue in some way.
'Should the community curfew model go ahead then I understand it is likely to be the first of its kind in the country.'
The impact of the curfew was seen in the recent behaviour of young people in the area, particularly this Halloween.
There were no reports of anti-social behaviour last Friday night, which did not go unnoticed by local residents.
Taking charge: PC Mark Griffin speaks to youngsters in the area
Success: PC Griffin said the curfew increased parental responsibility
Jack Clemens from Strawberry Crescent, a street covered by the curfew, said: 'We got no problems at all on Halloween night.
'Even the youngsters have learnt to toe the line better, to conform.
'It did actually work, so I think we should carry it on.'
In fact, 61 per cent of residents stated that they felt anti-social behaviour had greatly reduced during the time of the curfew.
The partnership is currently putting together a community agreement on the curfew with the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, West Cornwall Anti-Social Behaviour Team, Coastline Housing, West Cornwall Together and West Cornwall Safety Partnership, along with community groups and residents.
PC Mark Griffin, who works as the neighbourhood beat manager for the area covered by the voluntary curfew, said the police would be keen to support the partnership in any way.
He said: 'My biggest memory of the curfew was that there was a visible uptake of parental responsibility.
'In the vast majority of cases where we had a chance to properly explain the purpose, young people especially felt it was a commonsense thing to do.'
However, not everyone is positive about the prospect of a permanent curfew in the area.
Human rights group Liberty was opposed to the original summer curfew, which was deemed 'unfair' by its leader, Shami Chakrabarti.
In response to its potential continuation, James Welch, legal director of Liberty, said: 'The police should intervene if there is a problem, but young people shouldn't be challenged simply for being out of their homes.
'It is wrong to operate on the assumption that all young people out in the evening are troublemakers and this curfew scheme is neither proportionate nor fair to the law-abiding majority.'
But a similar trial shortly taking place at Brightlingsea in Essex demonstrates how the success of this summer's scheme has attracted significant interest from forces around the country.
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