Put trust in police over public safety

I AM the Inspector responsible for policing Hayes. I have read a letter sent to your paper by a member of the public and feel that I must respond.

A few weekends ago an incident did occur in McDonald’s involving a small group of young males and, yes, a few days later another assault did occur.

Neither incident is gang-related and there are no identified gangs or gang related issues in Hayes Town.

We are working closely with the McDonald’s management and staff to ensure that it is a safe place for you to go and eat.

The store is now closing earlier, is turning its Wi-Fi off in the afternoons, changing its music and has power sockets turned off, which were being used by youths to charge their phones.

This has all been done in consultation with McDonald’s, the local authority and us.

We have developed an excellent working relationship with the McDonald’s management and are working together closely with schools and police officers to identify any persons responsible for anti-social behaviour in the restaurant. Once identified, banning orders and community protection warnings will be issued and, if necessary, we will seek the assistance of Hillingdon Borough Council to enforce any breaches of tenancy agreements by those who act anti-socially.

The Hayes Neighbourhood Policing team put a lot of effort into policing your area and crime is down, but we need you to help us and we can only respond to what people tell us.

A common theme is for people to say that they don’t bother to call the police because nothing ever happens. I would say ‘how can we act on what we do not know?’ .

My staff are dedicated to making Hayes a safe and happy place – we are there but need your help with policing your community.

We run regular drop-in surgeries where officers are free to discuss your issues; unfortunately hardly anybody talks to them.

They are in regular contact with their councillors regarding issues and work in partnership with other agencies to combat anti-social behaviour.

We act on the information we receive and have had great success when you have given us information – an example being last week when we executed three drugs warrants and seized a considerable amount of Cass A drugs.

The credit for this goes to you, not my staff.

Please talk to us and please trust that my staff are doing their jobs well.