Police lead joint action against Pebsham's yobs

BEXHILL'S police chief this week pledged to work alongside local community leaders to combat anti-social behaviour in Pebsham.

Ward councillor, Charles Clark wrote to both the police and the Observer after receiving a petition from residents of Ian Close about problems there.

Cllr Clark said: "I have represented St Michael's Ward (Pebsham) for 13 years and have already had a good working relationship with the local police.

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"But at the moment I have a number of concerns about the way police are operating in my ward.

"If is a matter of lack of resources then this should be addressed.

"We are suffering an outbreak of vandalism. I am getting phone calls from elderly residents who are very concerned. I have received a letter and a petition from residents asking for action.

"During the month of August, there have been incidents of smashed down fences, street fights, resulting in a person being taken to hospital and egg-throwing at people's houses.

"Windows have been broken at the community centre.

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"When residents report crimes they get given a crime number. No officer calls on them. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned policing?

"People want to see a community policeman on foot, patrolling the beat.

"They want to see a police presence during the evenings, especially at weekends.

"I believe a police presence is good crime prevention. Why can't Pebsham have a Community Support Officer as I understand a number are to be placed in Rother and Hastings.

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"There have to be better public relations between the police and the public. We all know the problems you face when you phone the police station to try to speak to someone.

"Most people have great respect for our policemen, who have many demands on their time in a job where they are often confronted by violence.

"But if they want to continue to receive whole-hearted cooperation from residents they have to be seen to be carrying out effective policing."

Inspector Max Mosley told the Observer: "I will invite Cllr Clark in to discuss the situation in Rother and in his ward.

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"He is right, the police do have excellent working relations with the local council and with the community.There are significant problems in separate wards in Bexhill, some of which receive greater publicity than others.

"I have been particularly impressed by the efforts made by two other Rother councillors, Mr and Mrs Bridger, who called a meeting in Sidley to discuss how the community can help.

"Sometimes it takes a long time for community leaders to engage local champions who can work on the ground to deal with the core issues.

"Both Pebsham and Sidley share problems of young people who are disaffected. In most cases, engaging with professionals such as the youth service can help by diverting these kids way from anti-social behaviour.

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"The police will help in any way interested members of the community who can come forward to help form what is now being described a 'local action teams.'

"Cllr Graham Gubby and I attended a Sussex-wide seminar yesterday (Tuesday) at Slapham Manor to discuss just how initiatives can become more widespread. There is already a tremendous amount of work being done with young people but it is clear that there is a long way to go.

"Over the Summer period there has been a lack of community activities to deal with some of these young people and as a result the community has to pick up the pieces.

"Where people report an offence and can identify the offenders, the police will make every effort to deal with these offenders.

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"We are quite prepared to take out Anti-Social Behaviour Orders against offenders and in the past Rother councillors have been prepared to give evidence on behalf of these witnesses who are too afraid to come forward.

"I know that Cllr Clark will be one of these people who will help and we want a well-established procedure for reporting anti-social behaviour using the Rother Crime Reduction Partnership reporting form.

"I will be discussing with Cllr Clark whether we can form a Local Action Team for Pebsham. In the meantime, if anyone has got any positive ideas from the community how initiatives can be provided together using the Local Action Team then perhaps they would like to contact him.

"The recent problem at the skate park near the High School shows us that it is a tiny minority of disaffected youngsters that cause problems for the whole community, even in the face of tremendous community effort to provide facilities.

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"Cllr Clark and I are both trustees of Bexhill Youth Services Ltd. and have assisted Rother District Council and John Izzard in providing this very worthwhile facility.

"Graham Gubby was absolutely right in last week's headline when he said 'I hope those who do want to use the facilities come forward and name these people so an example can be made of them.'

"Together, we can deal with this mindless minority."