NEW UK TACTIC
Parents to be shown footage of unruly kids
Police have unveiled a new tactic to curb bad behaviour by youngsters - filming their antics and showing the footage to parents. It is hoped that filming the drunken actions of youths' and playing back the footage will not only shame the kids to behave better, but also convince parents to take more interest in what their children are up to outside of the home.
The novel tactic has been devised by officers in Rackheath, Lingwood and Brundall, however Norfolk police said today that if it was a success it could be rolled out elsewhere.
The plan has been welcomed by villagers in the affected areas who say their lives have been made a misery by anti-social behaviour and criminal damage from large groups of young people. Norfolk County councillor Brian Illes, who represents the Acle area and also sits on Norfolk Police Authority, said: “There are certain families and certain teenagers who cause the bulk of the problems and they are the leaders who involve the others in trouble. If you can isolate them and go and see their parents and make them feel awkward, that's the starting point of getting on top of these problems.”
Rackheath Parish councillor Paula Lowe, who also runs the village youth club, said things had improved in the village but welcomed the idea of capturing anti-social behaviour on video. She said: “I think it's a brilliant idea. I think the majority of the parents don't know what the kids are up to. I don't think parents don't care what their children are up to but if they don't see it then they don't think it is happening or it is always somebody else's child.”
At a meeting of the Acle Safer Neighbourhood Team in Rackheath this week, villagers praised the work already undertaken by police and councils to target anti-social behaviour. For the last three months the team has been focusing on problems in the car park and park area opposite the village hall in Station Road, Lingwood, in Willoughby Way and the bus shelter in Salhouse Road, Rackheath, and at Brundall Memorial Hall and the surrounding play area.
One villager at the meeting told of how his very young daughter had been terrified to the point of being physically ill and scared to sleep because of the problems. Another spoke of how her husband had encountered a young girl who was so inebriated at 10 o'clock at night that she could not look after herself. She was about to be left on the pavement by a male friend who had argued with her and it was only through intervention that the friend was made to realise she could be vulnerable and agreed to escort her home.
Responding to the concern, Inspector Brian Pincher, of Acle SNT, said: “A lot of parents don't know what their children are up to because they probably stay at a friend's. I have asked the Superintendent to buy three video cameras so staff can video people as they walk up to them and show that to parents - and it will be a big shock to them. “It's about making their parents aware of what their children are doing and making them aware as young adults that that is not the right way to behave.”
John Fleetwood, chairman of Brundall Parish Council, said he felt the village had a minor anti-social problem in comparison to other villages in the area. He said: “We would want to support anything the police want to do to tackle this.”
Norfolk Constabulary today said if successful, there was a possibility the plan could be implemented elsewhere in the county. A spokesman said: “We can't rule out any new creative ways to tackle anti-social behaviour. “But any new initiative would have to be assessed and to be a success before any decisions are made.”
Villagers at the meeting heard how conditional cautions were proving useful in tackling minor offences, for example giving an offender a caution with the condition they write a letter of apology to their victim or requiring them to pay for repairs caused by criminal damage. Other work includes setting up a youth council in Rackheath so that young people can have a say in their community.
Today, Bert Bremner, Labour city councillor for Norwich's University ward, said he would welcome the method being used in his ward. He added: “I feel very positively about what the SNTs have been doing and here they have been going round the homes of the parents and telling them what their children have been up to and it's made a difference. And if this new scheme is effective then yes I think it would work elsewhere. It sounds like another fantastic idea and if it gets results that's the important thing.”
Kium Briscoe
9 August 2008