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| NEWS | BY RICHARD OSLEY |
 CCTV images from Argyle Walk, in King’s Cross, notorious for prostitutes.  Street wardens
examine a drain for drug paraphernalia.  Pc Dylan
Belt (left) and Ian Walker, Camden’s Asbo co-ordinator. |
She had become a familiar face to residents, businesses and police patrols before she was finally excluded from the drug-hit zone earlier this year by magistrates who imposed an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo). Bex is one of 17 repeat offenders, who include drug users, prostitutes and aggressive beggars, to be banned from crime hotspots across the borough. And if any of them return to the no-go zones, then they could be brought back to court and jailed for up to five years. PC Dylan Belt, from King’s Cross drugs and vice unit, Operation Welwyn, explains: “It gets to the stage where some of the candidates for Asbos have lost all respect for the people living and working in the area. They just don’t care any more.” Camden Council has applied for 25 per cent of all orders granted within London since the legislation was introduced in 1999. And as the Government made fresh calls for a crackdown on anti-social behaviour last month, Camden’s community safety chief Councillor Barbara Hughes described Asbos as “a primary weapon” in the area. On a police tour around the district, officers still find shredded tin foil discarded by crack users in doorways and the odd soiled mattress stacked up by prostitutes in murky red-light alleys. But used syringes and blood-soaked tissue are increasingly being cleared by the Town Hall’s Drugs Action Team and street wardens who regularly check streets, basements and drains. PC Belt continues: “It is a good sign that we have not found any needles today but at a night it is different. Drug users and prostitutes use the alcoves in the alleys like those in Argyle Walk. There are residents who have to see them when they look out of their window. These orders are about protecting these people.” A cluster of rowdy men and women loiter outside the post office in Euston Road. PC Belt exchanges civil banter with them as he walks past and says: “There is no point in starting a confrontation. If I was to stop and search them on my own then others would gather around and say ‘what are you doing?’ We would probably come away with spit on our backs.” And he warns: “These can be dangerous people. When they are violent it is usually because they haven’t had a fix for some time.” PC Belt explains: “All of the people who have had orders against them come from outside Camden who have been drawn to King’s Cross. But word travels fast on these streets and they know what the orders are all about.” Footage from CCTV has become a key tool in collecting crucial Asbo evidence as drug users smoking crack, the deadly cocaine derivative which makes users tense and aggressive, act fast to resist arrest. “It is not against the law to take drugs, it is against the law to be in possession of drugs,” PC Belt says. “So often by the time officers can react they will have swallowed it or thrown it away. But with the Asbos we can still use this as evidence.” Two multi-screen control rooms cover the major spots for drugs and vice and are continually monitored by police and street wardens. PC Belt says: “It’s amazing. Some of them don’t seem to care whether they are on camera. I honestly believe that when it’s dark and they can’t see the cameras they think we can’t see what they are doing. But the images can be just as clear as in the day.” Residents and businesses have backed the orders. A King’s Cross resident stood up in court last month to help secure orders against two drug-using prostitutes. Many other residents have provided written statements to aid the Camden campaign. PC Belt explains: “The Asbo is only considered as a last resort. We don’t call them targets, we call them candidates. And they only become candidates when they meet certain criteria, so it isn’t a case of drawing up a list of 100 people and going after everyone.” He continues: “The candidate must be involved in anti-social behaviour in the area for at least three months. We need to have documented evidence showing their anti-social behaviour, and have at least two recorded incidents in the last six months.” Camden is now in a stronger position to pursue further Asbos with fresh Government guidelines introduced last week. Interim orders are now possible and the exclusion zones can be made larger to counteract displacement into neighbouring boroughs. Authorities will also be able to apply for Asbos in criminal courts against offenders as they are convicted. Camden’s Asbo co-ordinator Ian Walker, who has himself given evidence after watching a crack user assault another man from the window of his office in the Town Hall, adds: “This will stop another situation like we had with Vanessa Bex. She had 100 convictions. Hopefully under the new guidelines it wouldn’t reach that stage because we could apply for an order at the Crown Court at an earlier stage.” |
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