Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Enhanced roles for PCSOS ‘papering over the cracks’
Granting extra powers to police community support officers to crack down on anti-social behaviour is papering over the cracks of an increasingly thin blue line, says a residents’ group.
Kent’s Chief Constable Alan Pughsley has beefed up the roles of PCSOS, which will now include moving on trouble makers from dispersal order areas, confiscat- ing items which could be used to cause crime and disorder and shutting down licensed premises which sell alcohol to children.
They will also get further training, including the ability to take truanting schoolchildren back to their schools or homes.
While they have been given a cautious welcome by residents, there are still concerns there are too few fully fledged bobbies on the beat.
Chairman of the St Mildred’s Area Community Society, Reg Race, said: “In principle, we wel- come it but I fear it will only have a marginal effect in practice.
“Although I think PCSOS are generally a good thing and have a role to play, it seems a bit like a sticking plaster on what is a serious problem in the city.”
His group has been at loggerheads with local police chiefs, especially over anti-social behaviour and drug dealing in Dane John Gardens, which they claim is not being tackled.
It has collected a damning dossier of 100 incidents in the gardens in just six weeks which they claim were reported to police, only to be told by the force that it only had about half a dozen reports during the same period.
Mr Race said: “Giving these extra powers needs to be welcomed as far as it goes but it is papering over the cracks.
“I’m much more concerned about that attitude of the police to this kind of disorder and the number of police on the ground.”
Mr Pughsley said: “PCSOS are an invaluable resource in providing real benefits to the communities they serve.”