Starmer launches violent disorder programme to clamp down on rioters

Police should clamp down on rioters using powers they have to ban football hooligans, the Prime Minister said as he launched a violent disorder plan.

Sir Keir Starmer said he would like to see greater use of criminal behaviour orders (CBOs) in the wake of unrest in parts of England after the Southport stabbings.

Although, given the nature of the powers, it is so far unclear what immediate effect this may be able to have on quelling disorder.

At a Downing Street press conference on Thursday afternoon, he announced a national violent disorder programme would be launched across police forces after holding a meeting with police chiefs.

You don’t go to a protest with a rock in your hand. You go to commit violent disorder

He said: “We will establish a national capability across police forces to tackle violent disorder.

“These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community. We must have a policing response that can do the same. Shared intelligence, wider deployment of facial recognition technology and preventative action, criminal behaviour orders to restrict their movements, before they can even board a train. In just the same way that we do with football hooligans.”

Asked about the disparities in number of arrests between the riots in Southport and London, Sir Keir said: “I don’t think you’d simply measure the number of arrests and say there’s an inconsistency because that will depend event by event.”

He added: “In relation to preventative measures. One of the issues that came out this afternoon was criminal behaviour orders which can be attached to convictions for these sorts of offences, which then give the police and the authorities the ability to put their arms around and have a tighter grip on those that have already shown their true colours, have been convicted.

“And I would personally like to see more use of those orders in the same way that they’re used in football hooligan cases to stop people travelling, identify and prevent their patterns of behaviour, because these are not people going to protest.

“You don’t go to a protest with a rock in your hand. You go to commit violent disorder and we need to be really clear about that and I think those orders would help us in the preventative space.”

Number 10 later said the programme would “bring together the best policing capabilities from across the country to share intelligence on the activity of violent groups so the authorities can swiftly intervene to arrest them.

“Local insight and data will be used to gain a national understanding of where these criminals are operating, including the British Transport Police alerting where they see a spike in train ticket sales that could be linked to organised violent disorder.

“It will also consider how we can deploy facial recognition technology, which is already used by some forces, more widely across the country. This will mean criminals can be targeted, found and brought to justice quickly.”

CBOs are designed as a punishment for antisocial behaviour and were introduced in 2014 under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.

They can be imposed following convictions for any criminal offence in any criminal court, with the order aimed at tackling the most serious and persistent offenders.

These and other types of civil injunctions replaced Antisocial Behaviour Orders (Asbos) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, although Asbos are still used in Scotland.

Courts can hand defendants aged 10 and over CBOs if they have been convicted of a crime as part of their sentence, ordering someone to follow rules and adhere to bans. If they flout the order, they could be handed a more severe punishment.

This could include staying away from a particular location, like a town centre, being told to stop spending time with certain people, agreeing to attend a support group or carry out other work to improve your behaviour and fix damage you cause to property.

CBOs last between 12 months and three years for children, but for adults there’s no maximum amount time they can be imposed for. CBOs in force are reviewed every year and then stopped or extended.

Breaching a CBO could lead to up to two years’ detention for under-18s or up to five years in jail, an unlimited fine or both for adults.

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, welcomed discussions with the Government about tackling violent crime as he called for “calm”.

Speaking outside Number 10 after the meeting and press conference, Mr Stephens said: “We very much welcome the discussions with Government on how we pull together co-ordination across UK policing. And as we speak, colleagues are meeting to make sure that we have the necessary resources to make sure communities are properly kept safe and feel safe in the wake of what we’ve seen.”

In the long term, there needed to be “reinvestment in neighbourhood policing”, he added.