A large crowd gathered in Guisborough for a public meeting called amid growing concerns over anti-social behaviour in the town.
The meeting was organised by Guisborough Labour Party and Redcar and Cleveland Council (RCBC), to discuss criminal damage and burglary.
Some 500 people had gathered, but as the hall at Sunnyfield House only holds approximately 200 people, the meeting was divided into two one-hour sessions. In order to accommodate those unable to get in, the windows of the hall were opened so that they could listen to the proceedings from the garden.
RCBC Councillor Bill Suthers, who represents Guisborough Ward, chaired the meeting, accompanied by the town’s MP Luke Myer, Cleveland Police Inspector Neil Deluce, who is in charge of Neighbourhood Policing in East Cleveland, Jay Hosie, service lead for community safety and streetscene at RCBC, and Councillor Lisa Belshaw, who also represents Guisborough Ward at RCBC.
Many members of Guisborough Town Council were also present.
Opening the meeting on Thursday, Cllr Suthers said that anti-social behaviour (ASB) had been a problem in Guisborough for a while, according to social media but police statistics showed a decline in reported burglaries. A lot had been said on social media about the issue. Cllr Suthers said that Laurence Jackson secondary school supported efforts to identify any pupils involved, and would impose sanctions on those misbehaving whilst in school uniform.
Ms Hosie said that the council tried to identify young people at the stage of being at risk of offending, who could be exploited by gangs, so as to get children back onto the straight and narrow. She said that there were a lot of agencies involved to prevent these things happening but social media glamorised such behaviour. Ms Hosie said that CCTV cameras in Guisborough were being updated and added to so as to identify ASB hotspots, which could then be covered by mobile cameras. This would help in identification.
Insp Deluce said that police knew and worked with all agencies and he wished that he could do more. He said that the Cleveland Police Control Room monitored CCTV cameras, which were a massive help. He welcomed that so many people had come to the meeting but he said that social media posts were often incorrect and inspired a lack of confidence. He urged people to report crimes if they were happening.
In relation to reports of cars being broken into, Insp Deluce said that just ten reports of cars being broken into in Guisborough Ward had been received by police since the beginning of the year, and a total of 15 cars had been attacked across the Guisborough Wards in ten months, and the reduction was ongoing. He said that some comments on Facebook were not true and they were knocking the town down, not building it up.
Answering questions, Insp Deluce said that low level crime needed to be prevented. There was criticism that the Council Neighbourhood Action Partnership meetings had been cut out and staff made redundant. Some residents complained that there were no police in Guisborough, and a proposal to have a police hub in the centre of Guisborough was greeted with applause.
Luke Myer, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said that he had been in contact with the Government Policing Minister, Diana Johnson, to say that the area did not have enough police officers and he had made this point in Parliament. He had been assured that this Government would be delivering a new neighbourhood policing guarantee, recruiting new police officers and community support officers to patrol town centres, stopping issues before they developed.
Mr Myer said that it was necessary to tackle the exploitation of children early and stop young people going the wrong way.
RCBC Councillor Bill Clarke, who also represents Guisborough Ward, said that CCTV cameras were already up in Bakehouse Square and new ones would be put in place elsewhere, but first the trees needed trimming to improve the view.
In the final session of Q&A, residents gave examples of anti-social behaviour that they had witnessed and asked for more community officers. Reference was also made to balaclava-wearing youths on motor cycles, coming up from Eston, South Bank and Grangetown, along Wilton Lane, to cause mischief in Guisborough.
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