Plain clothes police drafted in after crimes

Residents tell meeting of safety fears

PLAIN CLOTHES police are being used to patrol a South Yorkshire market town in response to growing concerns about drug abuse in the area, residents have been assured.

South Yorkshire Police has confirmed that pupils attending Penistone Grammar School have also been subject to stop and search checks for drugs on their way to classes as part of the proactive policing in Penistone, Barnsley.

Police have been under increasing pressure from residents to boost the force’s presence in the town and surrounding communities, after losing officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) from its local station during austerity cuts.

One constable has now been stationed back there in an arrangement unique to the force, but other neighbourhood officers responsible for the area are still based miles away, in suburban Barnsley.

Penistone is to get a second officer as part of an expansion to provide 40 new neighbourhood police officers next year, sanctioned by South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings.

But alarm is growing among residents about the scale of problems in the area, which included a marauding gang of teenagers touring the area a little more than a week ago, resulting in what

residents claimed to be intimidation of motorists in a community centre car park, girl guides being locked inside their meeting room while the offenders were outside and serious damage to a parked car, which had a window smashed and bodywork dented.

Officers attending a community safety meeting said they had few details of the incident, but residents claimed the principal offender was a teenager, who was taken home by police who attended, rather than being charged.

Those attending the meeting said compensation for damage caused had been promised, but some questioned why there was no stronger police action.

Former police officer and Penistone town councillor, Graham Saunders, told the meeting: “I keep stumbling across youths with drugs. It is a problem and they are there.”

Residents believe a teenage boy was airlifted to hospital from Penistone around a week ago with apparent drug overdose symptoms, but police said such an incident would not necessarily be reported to them.

Police Sergeant Darrell Needham told the meeting that officers from the Operational Tasking Team, who work in plain clothes, had been drafted into the area.

“There is ongoing work with the child and young persons officers at Penistone Grammar School,” he said.

“We have had reports of issues before and after school in Huddersfield Road. Quite a few youths have been stopped and searched. None (drugs) were found at that time”.

Police said an investigation is ongoing after officers also raided a cannabis farm at a home in Penistone.

We have had reports of issues before and after school.

Police Sergeant Darrell Needham, of South Yorkshire Police.