The top officer at Avon & Somerset Police has defended the force's response to unauthorised encampments following residents' complaints that it is too slow.

During a monthly grilling by the police & crime commissioner (PCC), Chief Constable Sarah Crew said police powers – beefed up last year by a law that also created a new criminal offence – should not normally be the first option.

She said local authorities usually led a "multi-agency approach", with support from the police, to sites occupied by Travellers.

The chief constable said that while a nomadic lifestyle was lawful and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities were protected, there was a set of clear circumstances where the constabulary might become involved when trespassers occupied land without permission but that the public did not always understand it.

She told PCC Mark Shelford at the performance & accountability board on Tuesday, July 11: "The first thing I would want to do is acknowledge the challenges that are brought about by unauthorised encampments and that's clearly why people are writing to you.

"They often cause significant concern within communities and to local business owners.

"At the same time, moving people on to another area isn't the solution to a problem – everyone has a right to live somewhere and there is a shortage across the country, as well in our area, of appropriate alternative accommodation.

"There are a lot of stakeholders and a lot of complexity in managing these encampments, so it requires care and consideration and the context in each situation is critical."

She said the first key step was a visit by the police led by the local council to understand the circumstances of an encampment.

"What that enables us to do collectively is to talk to the Travellers, what are their intentions, what are the conditions on the site?" Chief Constable Crew said.

"We also give equal balance to listening to the community and engaging with them to understand what the impact this encampment is having, and that includes thinking about antisocial behaviour, where we have legislation, but also any criminal offences that might be occurring in the area.

"Clearly the welfare of everyone – community, Travellers, local businesses – are the primary consideration.

"It's right to say that the first response should not necessarily be, or normally even be, the use of police powers."

She said the force could become involved in an eviction where an encampment deprived a community of local services, such as a public park, school field or car park, or if there was a significant impact on the environment.

"It's really important that this isn't a fear, a risk, it actually has to have happened, but if those circumstances are in place, police powers may come into play," the officer said.

She said disruption to the local economy, including shoppers or workers being denied access to a site, or even farmland, could also be considered as grounds to evict.

Chief Constable Crew said: "That might be behaviour which is directly related to those present on the encampment where it is so significant that a prompt eviction by the police becomes necessary rather than any other means – the local authority has powers to use that might be considered first, and private landlords too.

"Clearly a danger to life would be another circumstance when we would become involved, for instance we've seen encampments close to motorways or where there could be danger caused because of children or animals running across the road.

"And the final area where it may become necessary for the police to use powers would be where we need to take preventative action.

"This is where a group of trespassers have persistently displayed antisocial behaviour at previous sites and we've got a reasonable belief, which is stronger than a suspicion, that behaviour is going to be replicated at a new site.

"The legislation is clear, the government guidance is clear – the mere presence of an encampment without any aggravating factors should not normally create an expectation that the police will use eviction powers.

"We do use them and we will use them in those circumstances where they're proportionate to use."

Mr Shelford said: "I understand it's a really complicated area for the police.

"One of the frustrations that people who get in contact with me say is that the police and the council are very slow to act, particularly when there has been proven criminality around these sites.

"Why is it so slow, why does it take so long?"

The officer replied that different legal notices needed to be served and evidence of those conditions was required.

She said: "I know it will feel slow but I can assure the people who write to you or people who are concerned in the community, we do understand all of the different aspects of this.

"We're very clear on when we can intervene, we're really clear on the local authority's responsibilities, the private landlord's responsibilities, we work together as a multi-agency group, we act proportionality and as quickly as we can but we do need to weigh up all of the different interested parties here.

"It can be quite complex, it can be quite nuanced, and we will be context-led."

She said the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 added to existing legislation on police powers over encampments but that this required there to be "significant damage, disruption or distress" before action could be taken.

The chief constable said the word "significant" was the change in the law and this would be more clearly defined as cases went to court but that the Act said the police were responsible for deciding what that meant for now.

"It also says that if the police deem the harms not to be significant then the offence would not apply," she said.

"So in answer to the question 'has it changed our approach?' – yes, but only insofar as it offers powers to intervene when that threshold of 'significant damage, disruption or distress' is met.

"If that threshold hasn't been reached, we fall back to the powers available to us, to local authorities and to private landlords that existed before the new legislation."