WOMAN 'AFRAID TO WALK THROUGH GRAHAM GARDENS AT NIGHT'
POLICE in Lisburn have admitted that they have failed to reach their target for tackling Anti-Social Behaviour but have reiterated their commitment to dealing with the problem.
Lisburn Chief Inspector David Moore said the local PSNI have missed their target of a 5% reduction in anti-social behaviour, achieving just half of 1% instead.
Mr Moore was responding to comments from a Lisburn resident who told a meeting of Lisburn's DPP she would no longer walk through Graham Gardens at night and complained about the broken bottles and vomit in the area after each weekend.
The lady, who said she lived in Wallace Avenue, informed officers at the meeting in the Island Civic Centre last week that her neighbours have also had people throwing bottles into their gardens and driveways on occasions.
Chief Inspector Moore said that officers "stop and engage" with young people when they can, however due to resources they had to prioritise calls. He added that officers couldn't always catch offenders "when you consider how quickly a bottle can be dropped or thrown".
When asked whether police have identified hotspots for anti-social behaviour, Mr Moore added, "If you look at the district from an urban/rural perspective it looks like an explosion in a paint factory. Lisburn is not unique in Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland is not unique in Europe. Officers are given details of those areas we want them to concentrate on."
He added, "We have made great inroads into anti-social behaviour in certain areas, and in other areas we've failed. There are occasions when certain young people can be intimidating to some people and not to another, we have to try to deal with everyone when it comes up."
When asked the average number of arrests that have been made in a month for anti-social behaviour, Mr Moore responded: "We don't arrest people for anti-social behaviour, we will arrest people for criminality associated with anti-social behaviour."
He added that the types of arrests made were for drugs, assault and criminal damage etc.
He added that juvenile drinking was also an issue and that officers have seized an "enormous amount of alcohol."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
