According to a report in The Gloucestershire Echo, a senior police officer has pledged to prevent a repeat of the vandalism that occurred in a Cheltenham park on Halloween night. Hoodlums decimated a bandstand which contained commemorative plaques of fallen RAF serviceman leaving local residents outraged. The sickening act prompted Deputy Chief Constable Mick Matthews to personally tackle the situation, even accompanying officers to break up a group of teenagers.
He commented:
"For me, this is what policing is all about. I want to be able to come down and talk to officers about what is going on so I can get their feedback from the people who use the park first-hand.
"That is the only way I know if what we are doing is effective. There is no point in managing from afar. I am a policeman first and foremost and being out and about like this is what it is all about."
However, the good intentions of Mr. Matthews were shortly undone by Sergeant Mark Stephens, of the Whaddon Safer Community Team. Who offered:
"It is about finding short-term and long-term solutions. In the short-term we can conduct more patrols to break up groups of young people who can be intimidating but in the long-term it is about changing the public's perception of the park after dark.
"Increasing the number of CCTV cameras and, possibly, placing soft lighting in the trees, may be a way to do that.”
But why does the public perception of the park matter? Surely it is the actual safety of the park that is the issue. A little mood lighting and a camera will not breed paradise as Sergeant Stephens seems to think. Time and time again we are reminded of the ineffectiveness of CCTV, but still we see it praised and relied upon.
By James Stannard