30. Written evidence from the Tenby Walled
Town Residents' Association
WELSH POLICING AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR;
POLICING AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN TENBV
INTRODUCTION
Tenby Walled Town Residents Association is a
community organisation set up to represent the views of the residents
who live within the walled town of Tenby. This is the Association's
submission on their concerns with Dyfed Powys Police Authority's
performance in Tenby and in particular their strategies for combating
anti-social behaviour within the walled town.
Tenby developed as a holiday resort in the 1850s
and is still solely dependent on tourism. Since the 1950s the
client base promoted a "cheap and cheerful" holiday,
a by-product being to establish a culture that Tenby was an ideal
place for excessive drinking and more recently as a stag and hen
party resort. This image was promoted by newspapers and sited
the town as a top national destination for "groups"
whose sole purpose is to get drunk and test the boundaries of
acceptable behaviour. The latest Lonely Planet Guide even warns
of these revellings. The Town Council and Welsh Tourist Board
are trying to change this image and are now actively engaged in
promoting the town as an upmarket resort which is safe for all.
The County Council in a move to control the traffic in Tenby has
introduced a series of pedestrianisation experiments during July
and August for the last three years within the walled town of
Tenby and promoted "cafe culture".
With the national increase in reported drink
related anti-social behaviour the people of Tenby look to the
police to control its rise in Tenby. The police data suggests
that l5% of Pembrokeshire's drink-related anti-social incidents
occur within the walled town of Tenby. This statistic justifies
the association's concerns that Tenby has a problem and backs
up the experiences of its members. We are told by the police that
Tenby "markets itself as a holiday town and with that it
has got to put up with a certain amount of the situation".
The residents consider the balance has shifted too far; it is
because Tenby is a town that relies heavily on the holiday trade
that the residents call on the Police to show a lead and control
the situation. Adverse experiences by well behaved, law abiding
tourists will deter their repeat bookings and give Tenby a bad
name that will attract only the loutish element.
We accept the police are working with local
licensees and have encouraged the Licence Victuallers Association
(LVA) to start a pub watch scheme and employ private bouncers.
However, the residents feel that the presence of bouncers on the
street and at the entrance to most pubs is intimidating and signals
trouble. The need to employ a bouncer at weekends by the local
Wimpy restaurant that has no liquor licence shows that the initial
reason for the scheme has failed and is outdated. The pub watch
scheme has its merits but as long as some pubs still continue
to serve drunken customers, offer happy hours and karaoke in a
club atmosphere that creates a noise nuisance that lasts all evening
the root cause of the problem is not solved. It falls to the police
to sort out problems caused by the clients of these pubs once
they are on the streets, whether they leave voluntarily or are
thrown out.
The continued instances of anti-social behaviour
in Tenby has sported local headlines of disgust: "Call time
on the yobs"(Page 1 Tenby Observer 14 May 2004), "Call
to halt yob culture" (Page 2 Western Telegraph-28
July 2004), "Garden vandals strike again" (Page 1 Tenby
Observer 13 Aug 2004). Fighting, urinating, defecating, nudity,
graffiti and wanton damage are major concerns. Most of the behaviour
was witnessed to be drink related and would be considered unacceptable
anywhere, and in the residential streets within the walled town
in particular. The atmosphere in the town changes after 9pm at
weekends and has the feel of a war zone with police CCTV vans,
bouncers on every pub door and rowdy behaviour in the streets.
Many residents tend to stay indoors and tourists with families
do not linger.
We consider that at the moment enforcement is
limited by the Police by the resources they have available and
they are unable to act on all their published priorities. The
Police have a vital part to play in shaping the future of the
town.
USE AND
AVAILABILITY OF
RESOURCES
The police station in Tenby historically had
a Custody Sergeant and Custody Facilities and so had the ability
to detain offenders efficiently. The loss of this facility must
influence the police's response to incidents. They are aware that
if they decide to detain anyone a critical proportion of their
resources will be unavailable for several hours travelling to
the nearest custody facility and so leaving the town with reduced
cover and officer capability. This approach feeds back to the
persistent offenders who are aware that antisocial behaviour is
condoned and will go unchecked. The converse is also true; if
the police were given the resources to act quickly to detain troublemakers
it would soon send out a message that this behaviour is unacceptable
in Tenby.
The number of police on duty at any given time
is not generally available, although statistics are sometimes
published. These statistics do not differentiate between part
time and full time officers and so do not give the full picture.
Given the inefficient use of police resources that are needed
to detain people at Pembroke Dock or further, the meaning of any
published statistic of the resources available are further reduced.
The number of police available at any one time
in Tenby is dependent on the population it serves, both in number
and nature. The transient nature of the tourist population is
supplemented in the summer by others from outlying parts of the
County who look on Tenby as a good place for a night out. Many
of the young people who holiday or visit Tenby are attracted by
its appeal of its pubs; the level of policing that these groups
of people require when on a night out in Tenby is greater than
other circumstances. The Association questions that if the numbers
of police that are available in the summer are adequate for the
special conditions that exist in Tenby.
It was reported that the CCTV camera in St Georges
Street, that was erected with some funding from community support,
could not be used during the hours of pedestrianisation (11am
to 5pm during July and August 2004) to follow any crime incident
or monitor antisocial behaviour as it was required to monitor
vehicle movements. To lock out a camera to enforce traffic regulations
that could otherwise be capable of aiding an arrest for public
disorder is wrong.
The promotion of "Cafe Culture" together
with the introduction of pedestrianisation by the County Council
has led to an increase in the police's responsibilities due to
the legalisation of drinking in the streets during the day; many
have likened it to an extended beer garden.
The labour intensive method that is adopted
of enforcement of traffic regulations to prevent unauthorised
motorists entering the walled town and of parking regulations
during the summer pedestrianisation period has been another drain
on the available police resources.
The police appear to disregard parking offences
in Tenby at any other time apart from during in the peak summer
period, and then only during the daytime. The change three years
ago from seasonal yellow lines (valid 1 April to 30 September)
has been ignored by the police and so motorists have become confident
they will not be booked unless they are causing an obstruction.
The contrast between the police's and the Council
approach of rigorously enforcing the parking regulations in their
car parks could not be more marked, motorists using the pay and
display car parks know where they stand and abide by the regulations.
The police by their "hot and cold"" approach to
enforcing the yellow line parking regulations leads to general
confusion and much abuse. This Association calls for the Police
to liaise with the County Council to ensure that whatever parking
regulations are in force are able to be enforced by the police.
What the Association looks for is:
— Custody facilities in Tenby during
the peak summer period.
— Policing levels reflect the special
conditions that exist in Tenby during the summer.
— The CCTV camera in St Georges St
is available at all times to monitor potential public disorder.
— The police liaise with the Council
to introduce traffic restrictions in the walled town that require
less police time to enforce and so allow resources to be used
elsewhere.
— The police liaise with the Council
to ensure they are able to enforce whatever parking regulations
are in place in Tenby.
Without proper control and ground rules on what
is permitted and what is not, the situation will get out of control
and Tenby will have failed those who come here to enjoy themselves
for any other reason than getting drunk.
STRATEGIES TO
ADDRESS CRIME
AND ANTI-SOCIAL
BEHAVIOUR
The service provided by the central call centre
has frustrated and deterred some callers with the frequent delays
in answering a call. Also a call to a distant operative gives
no confidence that a prompt response will be made to an immediate
problem and this has been borne out in practice. Instances of
anti-social behaviour are frequently spur of the moment and generally
petty. The experience of reporting rowdy behaviour in the early
hours of the morning to a distant call centre with no guarantee
of prompt action often deters repeat complaints, and so a general
reluctance to report this sort of incident has developed. There
is no substitute for a system where a person can to speak to a
local officer and see an immediate response. This is of particular
relevance when the police appear to rely heavily on reports of
disturbances to maintain order rather than a visible police presence.
This Association is working with the County
Council's Licensing Committee and has great hopes that the new
licensing laws due to come into force will be of benefit to the
community by reducing crime and disorder, instances of public
nuisance, securing public safety and protecting children from
harm. We hope that the police will be active in appeals against
licensed premises that already have regular anti-social behaviour
problems in or near their premises and actively enforce any conditions
imposed.
This Association has a policy of working toward
a town in which all licensed and unlicensed premises close at
midnight. It is hoped that the police will support all such moves
and that this will limit the number of incidents reported in the
early hours of the morning and so reduce the police workload.
The association considers that by operating
a policy of not tolerating any anti-social behaviour the police
will create in the long term a town that will have considerably
less problems and be a more inviting place for residents and visitors
to live and stay.
What the Association looks for is:
— A manned presence in Tenby Police
station at night during the summer and New Year that is able to
respond to telephone calls, preferably within a target performance
indicator of three rings.
— That the police work closely with
the County Council and other community groups to ensure that the
potential benefits of the new licensing laws are realised.
— That the police work towards Tenby
being a town in which all licensed and take-away premises close
at midnight.
— That the police reduce the instances
of anti-social behaviour by a strict approach to enforcement.
SUMMARY
The Association believes that the police by
accepting the degree of anti-social behaviour in Tenby that has
become the norm nationally it have lost an opportunity to reverse
this trend. Tenby with its national profile and significant resident
population could become a bench mark for the effective policing
of seaside towns.
We accept that the situation here has not deteriorated
to the degree of that reported in some other seaside towns such
as New Quay in Cornwall or in Rhyl; but call on the police to
put what ever resources are necessary into ensuring that Tenby
is perceived as a quality resort that is safe, appeals to a wide
variety of tourists and one that both Pembrokeshire and Wales
are proud.
Richard Walker
Chairman, Tenby Walled Town Residents Association
10 October 2004
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