ON DISPERSAL ZONES

I felt that something needed to be said about the completely discriminatory use of the powers given to police officers when issuing 24 hour dispersal orders. These are orders preventing the person given one from entering the dispersal zone, for example Mill Road, again within the following 24 hour period and also means they have to leave right then by the quickest route possible, even if that means having to walk miles out of their way.
Having explained roughly what one is I should say the reason you can be issued with one. It is supposed to be given if you are stationary, drinking alcohol, not alone and within a designated dipersal zone. May I at this point add that these areas are rapidly expanding.
Now I will attempt to explain the way in which these powers are used to target a certain group of people.I will start with the dispersal zones themselves, these are areas where people are not supposed to gather and consume alcohol but that is not strictly true as it depends on who you are as to whether this rule is stuck to. I think it's fairly easy to see where I'm going next.
It seems that if you happen to be a group of fairly well to do students sitting having a drink, even if being fairly loud, then you seem to be left to continue but if you look as if you are part of what is termed (by the police) “street life”, even if being quieter than the other group, you are sure to be moved and at the officers discretion given a dispersal order.
Only recently two friends where dispersed when they stopped and spoke to me even though the drink they had was in their pockets (although it had been opened) and I was told to leave the area and not return for the next few hours, simply because I was speaking to the guys, even though I am not a drinker.
I hope this letter shows why I feel these orders are about moving on the kind of people the general public would rather pretend did not exist. FR

There are many reasons people become homeless and it is not something that anyone asks for or wants. It is an unpleasant and frightening experience when you first find yourself out on your own with nowhere to go and not knowing who to turn to or where to go. You don't know about things like night shelters or drop in centres, there is no reason you should as it's not something you expected to need.
When the general public see a homeless person they immediately assume that they are just some kind of low life dosser who has never contributed to society and has no desire to ever achieve anything, in fact they tend to think the only desire they have is to be a drain on society and do nothing but drink ,take drugs and be a general waster.
If people bothered to take just a little bit of time and hear a few people tell them what their life was before they became homeless and the circumstances that led to them being on the streets maybe it would show them that they're not so very different and that maybe it's not so hard to see that they too could end up in the same position. Everyone assumes that everything they have is there to stay but nothing in life is certain and could all be gone in an instant, if only people could see this maybe there would be a little bit more understanding and tolerance of those less fortunate than themselves.
The homeless community is just as varied as any other, if not more so. You will meet people from all walks of life, those who have had businesses, very well educated people, ex-service people, in fact if you can think of a possibility then you'll find someone on the streets who once led that life.
As for the drink and drugs most people didn't end up on the streets because of either it's something that came once out there. It is not an excuse when you hear people say the streets led me to drink, drugs or both it is a cold hard fact. The streets are a very harsh place to live and so very often it is drink and or drugs that help you get through the day. Without some kind of way of coping with the reality of your existence you simply would not get through the day. Apart from this sadly it is the way the people you are surrounded by are surviving as well so therefore makes it easier to get into this kind of lifestyle and much harder to get out of. This unfortunatly does nothing to help the public's image of a homelessless person.
Once you are on the streets it's not easy to find a way out as landlords want employed people and employers want an address, there you have it - catch twenty-two. This usually means having to find a place in a hostel, which are not always easy to find and are not the easiest places to live in, some being better than others. Once you get a place you are hoping to be able to get away from the world of drink and drugs but so is everyone else living there which tends to make it extremely difficult to keep away from it all as some are more committed than others and makes the temptation hard to resist. The thing you have to hope for is that it won't take too long to be relocated to your own place, although this can take a long time.
All in all street life is not an easy life and the effects are long lasting, it certainly isn't as simple as finding a place to live. I would like to think that if people were a little (well a lot) more aware of the problems street life presents you with and the problems faced with re-adjusting to housed living then maybe there might be less prejudice and more understanding and support.
You may think what about the young people on the streets, what have they ever contributed ? Well if somebody gave them a chance they would. Again for them it is not something they have asked for or wanted. Imagine for a minute if you, instead of being looked after in a home enviroment, found yourself out there fending for yourself maybe then you would realise they need help not scorn. Finding yourself out there at a young age knocks you in a way that takes a lot of coming back from and requires people to help support and rebuild your confidence so that you can rejoin the rest of society. Although there are organisations that do as much as they can it is society as a whole that could make a big difference. If people stopped assuming that they are looking at yobs who have put themselves where they are but instead saw people who have not had the chances they've had maybe people would see they just need to be given a chance, somebody to believe in them and very soon they would see what these young people have to offer. I can tell you if you stopped for a while you'd notice some talented people out there with a lot to offer.
Really I suppose I'm saying that there needs to be a willingness to see beyond what's in front of peoples faces and to see the real person behind the label of homelessness. Maybe one day we will become a more tolerant society and want to help eachother, well, I can but hope. RF