A NEIGHBOURHOOD VIEW

Parents urged ‘get a grip’

Parents of troublemakers across Times Territory should take more responsibility for their children. This is the message from a Welwyn Hatfield councillor who spent two nights with police officers tackling anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Alan Franey told the WHT he had decided to join the officers after receiving calls and letters from people complaining about young louts in their area.
And the Howlands councillor said he was shocked by what he saw.
On the first night Cllr Franey and special constables Graham Miller and Glen Johnson were called to an incident involving 40 youths outside Hatfield Swim Centre.
Cllr Franey said: “What struck me was the number of kids there of 11 and 12 years of age and it was 11.15pm.
“Most of the problems coming up are with individuals who are known to the police already so it's not like they are picking up people that are doing things for the first or second time.”

Perhaps one of the most surprising things, however, was the verbal abuse from parents when officers drove children home, according to Cllr Franey.
“I found this quite astonishing,” he said. “There's generally a lack of respect for the police from people. It's a big issue for society and it's very sad.”
On the second night, Cllr Franey and Pc Stuart Gunstone of the WGC community team visited families who had been subjected to anti-social behaviour.
He said a big problem was people refusing to press charges through fear of reprisals.
Officers did a great job, the councillor said, but were hampered by a lack of numbers and mountains of paperwork.
Following an arrest, the special constables had spent well over an hour booking the youth in and filling out paperwork, said Cllr Franey.
“Any calls coming through they just couldn't respond to,” he said. “They couldn't have done any more than they did that night.”
Cllr Franey said parents should share responsibility with the police for keeping the streets of Welwyn Hatfield safe.
“Parents have got to get a grip and take control of their youngsters. It's wrong for people of 10, 11 and 12 to be running around the streets at 11pm or midnight.

“They can't expect others to do it for them.”

Editorial
11 May 2005

http://www.whtimes.co.uk/content/whtimes/news/story.aspx?brand=whtonline&category=news&tBrand=herts24&tCategory=newswhtimes&itemid=WEED11%20May%202005%2012%3A09%3A41%3A697

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