Parish promised help against yobs
A VILLAGE is to get a second police community support officer (PCSO) assigned to patrol problem areas after a security firm was taken on to combat late-night drunken rowdyism.
Aldenham Parish Council took the unusual step of employing a security company after residents were subjected to repeated episodes of vandalism, violence and vomiting in and around Phillimore recreation ground in Radlett every Friday and Saturday night until around 2am.
Crown Protection Services from North London supply a man and a dog every Friday and Saturday night from 8.30pm until 2am to patrol the area for around £200 per person.
Police said figures of actual reports of incidents to police were low - showing on average just four calls to them relating to the recreation ground since January 2007.
But Cllr Stephen Burke, who chairs the parish council's recreation ground committee, maintained that many residents had given up reporting incidents, claiming there was no incentive because half the time the police didn't bother to come out and the rest of the time they turned up too late to catch anyone.
He said that residents who did call the police were being targeted by the yobs with their property being vandalised, fences torn down and faeces thrown into their garden.
Neighbourhood Inspector Dave Rankin said the figures of reported crime were very low but admitted that if there was a hidden problem and, as the council had said, the community was concerned, the police needed to address the situation.
A neighbourhood officer and PCSO would work in partnership with the council and any security officers around the park and a second PCSO would be deployed to cover Aldenham parish as a whole. He added: "That PCSO is currently in training so will be available for duty on September 3.
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