The Down Area currently has over 85 accredited Neighbourhood Watch Schemes (NWS). Funding has been provided to further support for various consultations and initiatives to support local NWS co-ordinators and their neighbours to reduce local crime and disorder in a bid to make neighbourhoods safer and better places to live, work and play. The report concludes that this consultation has proven successful in promoting good relations and the notion of self-help with local communities. Officers are now attending the scene of all burglaries to provide reassurance to victims, and leaflet drops are also carried out in neighbourhoods where burglaries have taken place.
[caption id="attachment_25437" align="alignright" width="400" caption="At the DDPP meeting in St Mary's High School in Downpatrick were school pupils Tori Clydesdale, Alison Mageean, Claire Smyth and Sarah Cunningham with Principal Ms Sheila Darling, Area Commander Deirdre Bones, DDPP Chairman Cllr William Dick, and Detective Inspector Joanne Harris."]
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In Ardglass, the report said that along with Down District Community Safety Partnership, Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) Downpatrick have launched an Action plan for Ardglass which includes a local clean up, road show and increase in joint patrols in the area.
In the Newcastle Area, work is ongoing to encourage more effective security in caravan parks through an early alert system to dissuade any intrusion by troublesome visitors or criminals. Leaflet drops have been conducted as a response to thefts and burglaries and in April NPT visited all caravan parks to mark equipment with UV pens. In the Annsborough area close to Castlewellan, an initiative has been introduced to reduce the number of traffic offences within the area. Speed devices were also set up to deter people from speeding.
In the Castlewellan area itself, NPT liaised with forestry personnel and local council enforcement officers to conduct joint patrols in Castelwellan Forest Park at the weekends. This was in response to recent incidents of criminal damage, theft and anti-social behaviour in the Forest Park. Plans are in place to have spring risers placed at the rear exit of the park and a barrier placed just before the entrance to the maze to prevent vehicles from entering the camp site.
Due to an increase in the level of anti-social behaviour in the Rowallane area, NPT officers spoke to youths from the area to establish how they could avoid this behaviour. The youths indicated they had no facilities besides a leisure centre. After an event arranged to outline exactly what the youths wanted, a new bus service providing return transport to popular amenities such as Downpatrick Cineplex, Dundonald Ice Bowl and Lisburn Leisure Centre/Laser Quest has been established.
Overall the report was described by Area Commnader Bones as “a promising step in the right direction”, with the only main cause of concern centred around a failure to increase the detection rate for overall crime. She added, “We continue to exhaust all avenues of enquriy in order to make offenders amenable for crime.
“Full use is made of CCTV and forensic evidence. Bail conditions of prolific offenders are robustly policed”, she added.
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