Patrols helping shoppers to feel ‘safer’
EFFORTS TO TACKLE PROBLEM OF ‘AGGRESSIVE’ BEGGARS
AGGRESSIVE begging and intimidation of shoppers at a Nottingham supermarket is being stamped out by a new council and police operation.
Community protection officers from Nottingham City Council are now visiting Asda in Hyson Green every day to ensure the area is safe for visitors.
Shoppers believe it has improved the area but there are some concerns the issues could return in the summer, with fears raised around alcohol and drug misuse.
Shoppers previously described how they had been “pounced on” by beggars, followed to their cars and even threatened because they wouldn’t hand over loose change.
Concerns were also raised about a lack of security at the Hyson Green store and claims that sometimes up to 20 beggars will “lurk” around the car park every day.
Police started to patrol the area and even put a knife arch in the nearby park which feeds into the supermarket. Benches in the park were also removed to stop people gathering.
Now council officers are patrolling the site every day to not only move beggars on but to find out more about their current situation with the aim of helping them get support if they want it.
The Post visited the supermarket and found no begging in the car park or the playground.
Community Protection Officer Ashley Hewitt was on duty and said his team had been patrolling the site every day to combat the problem.
He said: “There was aggressive begging, following shoppers with their trolley and waiting for the pound. It did not feel safe to shop.
“We get so many people coming up to us and saying ‘thanks for being here’ and ‘I can bring my children back to the shop and ‘walk through the park on my own.’
“People are grateful for what we are doing. The operation is about tackling rough sleepers, begging and street drinking.
“People see a lot of people in uniform and they think ‘they just move them on’ but that is not the case. We are providing a support network behind us if they need it.”
He said the teams were working with homeless charity Framework and Nottingham City Council to try and offer people proper support.
VJ Khan, 37 – who works as a taxi marshal for Nottingham Cars, which has a rank in the supermarket car park – highlighted the issues blighting the area in October.
He said: “For the last month it has been nice and clean and there is no-one here. When shoppers see an officer in the car park they feel more comfortable.
“Before they were scared to go to the cash point. People can now walk freely. If they keep coming like this – twice a day – then they won’t come back here again.”
Shoppers visiting the supermarket said they had experienced the problem firsthand but were mainly supportive over the police and council efforts.
Mark Lavender, 48, who visits the supermarket regularly, said: “It is constant and in your face and there are facilities out there to help them.
“They still keep coming back. Getting them into trouble is not going to work. I think a lot have been on the streets for so long they do not want to be in sheltered accommodation.”
Devantti Brown, 21, who lives in the area and shops at Asda, believes the real problems happen at night.
He said: “It has not improved that much around here.
“I still see a lot of drug use around the area, especially at night-time. It is night-time – that’s when things start to pack up.
“You always see them at the park.”
Susan Smith, 65, also from Radford, who shops at Asda, said there had been a marked improvement.
“It is better,” she said. “They were always asking for change but then some are polite and were not nasty if you said ‘no.’ “They have never bothered me.” Another shopper said: “There is a good presence of uniformed officers.”
In December, Asda said it was delighted that the police were working with them in order to increase security at the site, and that it had “increased its own security measures at our Hyson Green store”.
We are providing a support network behind us if they need it
CPO Ashley Hewitt