January 14, 2014 3.55 pm This story is over 122 months old

Lincoln PCSOs get powers to tackle dog mess

Clean it up: City of Lincoln Council has welcomed a request allowing PCSOs the power to issue penalties for anti-social behaviour.
Photo: Elliott Brown

The City of Lincoln Council has agreed to allow Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) the power to issue fixed penalty notices for littering, dog fouling, fly-posting, graffiti and out of control dogs.

Among the items discussed on January 13 by the council, the request, made by Lincolnshire Police Chief Superintendant, called for PCSOs to issue penalties alongside council enforcement.

Currently, only trained council enforcement officers have the powers to issue fixed penalty notices.

It is hoped that PCSOs will begin using their new powers later this year.

Any income received from the issue of the fixed penalty notice will form part of the arrangements to be negotiated with the police.
PCSO car
Sam Barstow, Service Manager for Public Protection and Anti-Social Behaviour, said: “We welcomed this request from Lincolnshire Police and are now looking forward to working with them to see how we can deliver this.

“Now that the executive have approved the principle, officers will begin working with the police to put procedures in place and give legal authorisation to PCSOs. We will endeavour to complete this work as quickly as possible.

“We will by no means be scaling down our own efforts and in fact this decision will support the council’s work tackling anti-social behaviour.

“By giving these powers to PCSOs we are increasing the chances of culprits being caught, and providing a greater deterrent to would-be criminals.”