An ethnographic multi-order and notice analysis of the policing practices associated with civil preventive orders and notices

Abstract

Within England and Wales and internationally, there has been a growing reliance on two-step Civil Preventive Orders and Notices (CPONs) to regulate sub-criminal (Anti-Social Behaviour) and criminal behaviour (Violence Against Women and Girls). Often applied using the lower civil evidential standard at the first step of the process, these powers enable early intervention and victim protection via prohibitive (e.g. exclusion zone) and positive requirements (e.g. anger management course). However, when a recipient breaches the notice, order or any of the requirements imposed, they commit a criminal offence, often punishable by imprisonment. There is presently limited understanding of how these powers are used within policing, their effectiveness, and legal and moral limits. As a result, this mixed methods ethnographic study of a single case study police force in England and Wales provides the first in-depth multi-order and notice analysis of the powers from initial introduction to implementation. The research draws on over 100 hours of ride-along ethnographic observations, sixteen semi-structured interviews, and secondary data from police statistics and policies. Utilising the combined theories of Preventive Justice, Street-Level Bureaucracy, and Risk Society to create the Proportionality, Appropriateness and Effectiveness (PAE) Appraisal Model for Preventative Powers. The findings reveal that due to policy weaknesses and the all-encompassing nature of risk, officers must act as policy entrepreneurs, creating informal processes to work through the CPON process haphazardly, challenging their most proportionate, appropriate, and effective use. Consequently, this study provides seventeen policy, practice, and research recommendations, offering practical insights for policymakers, practitioners and academics.