‘Risk supporters’ monitored to manage disorder

Northamptonshire Police is using a web-based management platform to monitor ‘risk supporters’ at football matches.

Dedicated football officers (DFOs) Sergeant Nick Paul and PC Nick Price are using the system for tracking and updating subjects of interest who follow Northampton Town FC. These ‘risk supporters’ are suspected of being involved with anti-social behaviour and disorder at the club’s home and away fixtures, and possibly at England matches.

A dedicated gallery has been introduced on the widely-used E-CINS (Empowering Communities Inclusion and Neighbourhood Management System) platform to “manage issues such as violence, disorder, disruption and damage perpetrated by spectators at football events”.

The force says a key reason for using E-CINS for managing football ‘risk supporters’ is its ability to share information with other interested parties. The aim is to use the system in a similar way to how the police and probation teams use it for integrated offender management to improve their recording of information and enhance partnership working and interventions.

A prime objective for Northamptonshire’s football spotting team is to sign up all five of the football clubs that operate within the county – Northampton Town, Kettering Town, Rushden and Diamonds, Corby Town and Brackley Town – so that they are able to keep each other up to date and share information with the anti-social behaviour unit. This would enable all parties to improve the Police And Clubs Together (PACT) scheme by accessing profile information, monitoring progress and working together to put interventions in place earlier.

By using the wider E-CINS platform in this way the football spotting team would be able to access information about recent matches much quicker and be more proactive in their approaches to handling incidents.

A long-term objective is to encourage other DFOs nationally to use the platform to share information about ‘risk’ groups and associations and links across the country to support the DFO when researching and planning for football fixtures.