Wrexham's Poorest Criminalised – Beggar Belief

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  • #149093

    Alunh
    Participant

    Thanks for the whole-hearted concern about my doorway folks. Haven’t had the pleasure yet….though one of my old Phase One staff has reminded me that on Day One of his employment he was given the task of removing a monster one from by our back door. At this point I normally move into Sheefag country and request that people be deturd from doing the aforementioned…….but I won’t.

    Best of luck Matt on the idea of getting big businesses to wade in to the rescue. Not the most practical idea that you’ve thrown out there……and you are a man who has so many really good comments…..usually.

    This is an intractable problem and I suspect that we need to agree on what can’t be tolerated……and then try to come up with a solution. It is intolerable that a town should be hi-jacked by people committing anti-social acts of a proliferating kind, individuals being allowed to be given a free pass where the law is concerned and prevent the rest of us trying to build something better. That said, there should be strategies in place to turn around lives and help people to overcome their current circumstances

    #149095

    Council Watcher
    Participant

    This really is an intolerable situation which is not unique to Wrexham -here is the response to the same issue from another Council- one solution Fixed Penalty Notices – come on Kingdom you are being paid to deal with litter – without going into the technicality but what is left in doorways must fall into the same category

    Urinating and defecating in the street
    Reported in the Public toilet category anonymously at 16:13, Thu 19 February 2015

    Sent to Hammersmith And Fulham 2 minutes later

    This section of Galena Road is effectively a cobbled alley-way and every day people visit this section of the road to most often urinate in it or, as has happened twice more recently, defecate in broad daylight in public. The most recent occasion this actually happened next to my car in a private car parking space. It is like living a third world country and something should be done to either educate, prosecute or stop this type of unacceptable behaviour. I understood it was against the law so why are the CCTV cameras present in our street not used, or better signage put up to stop people using our environment as a public toilet?

    Dear Ms. Campbell,

    Thank you for your report regarding Galena Road. The following information relates to your query.

    Urinating and defecating in public are not offences in themselves. Clearly if perpetrators expose themselves, are belligerent and abusive or drunk and incapable they may fall foul of existing legislation and be dealt with accordingly by a police officer at the time. If you witness any such further behaviour, please do call the police on 101 or the LBHF Cleaner Greener line on 020 8753 1100 to report the need for street cleansing. Some Councils (e.g. Westminster City Council) have existing bylaws prohibiting this behaviour – Hammersmith and Fulham does not, but we are currently considering using a new piece of legislation available to us in the form of a Public Space Protection Order which could state that such behaviour was prohibited. There is currently some consultation being carried out in Shepherds Bush Green ward, and it may be rolled out to other areas of the borough in due course. If this is decided for Galena Road, then signs would be put up in the area to advise people, and enforcement officers would then be able to issue Fixed Penalty Notices of £100 for a breach of this order.

    LBHF does have CCTV cameras that monitors the area in and around Galena Road, but operators cannot see directly into the area where you park your car. If an offence occurs, we are more than happy to give access to the footage to officers such as the local police or Street Scene Enforcement it they think that it would be useful in their investigations, should offences dealt with by them be reported. The CCTV operators are on duty 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week and can utilise the cameras as soon as they are advised of an issue, either through the police taking a relevant call, or through a tasking to monitor a specific area at peak times. We are also able to look back at footage retrospectively for a period of one month to assist investigations or to gather evidence.

    I am aware that you have also submitted a recent MP enquiry on these issues, and a full response has also been sent back to Mr Slaughter covering all the matters raised. If you would like any further information, please feel free to call the Community Safety Unit on 020 8753 2816.

    Regards

    Chris Reynolds Community Safety Manager Community Safety Unit Safer Neighbourhoods’ Division Environment, Leisure and Residents’ Services Ext: 2459 Mob: 07901 660 776

    #149096

    Matt
    Participant

    Agreed Alun that it is unlikely to work getting big businesses to pay, especially not in the UK under the current economic and political climate. I was just throwing it in there as something that has happened as an idea of something in terms of tackling homelessness elsewhere in the world as I came across it reading the news.

    It’s all incredibly frustrating because few years back we didn’t have this problem in our town – we’d always been very low on actual people persistently on the streets either sleeping or begging and probably more out of sight than it is now drug and alcohol abuse issues. Now we’ve got zombies on the street and we had a shanty town that made the national press.

    So for us to be able to move onwards and upwards 12 months, 2 years, 5 years down the line we need to work out like you said how to boost our retail/business ecosystem and get these people off the streets somehow.

    I really feel that with the current lack of funds police, council, MPs, AMs etc… etc… everyone is clueless and powerless to defeat the beast of the latest failure in the war on drugs and a continued squeeze on those worst off that pushes impoverished people and their problems over the edge into being everyone else’s problems out on the streets.

    #149126

    Alunh
    Participant

    Matt said “[quote quote=149096]Agreed Alun that it is unlikely to work getting big businesses to pay, especially not in the UK under the current economic and political climate. I was just throwing it in there as something that has happened as an idea of something in terms of tackling homelessness elsewhere in the world as I came across it reading the news.

    It’s all incredibly frustrating because few years back we didn’t have this problem in our town – we’d always been very low on actual people persistently on the streets either sleeping or begging and probably more out of sight than it is now drug and alcohol abuse issues. Now we’ve got zombies on the street and we had a shanty town that made the national press.
    So for us to be able to move onwards and upwards 12 months, 2 years, 5 years down the line we need to work out like you said how to boost our retail/business ecosystem and get these people off the streets somehow.

    I really feel that with the current lack of funds police, council, MPs, AMs etc… etc… everyone is clueless and powerless to defeat the beast of the latest failure in the war on drugs and a continued squeeze on those worst off that pushes impoverished people and their problems over the edge into being everyone else’s problems out on the streets” (end quote)

    My last contribution on this one Matt (hopefully) because I think it’s played out. Through all of the Thatcher era (and beyond), we never had this sort of thing on the streets of Wrexham. If the “Broken Window Theory” is valid then I hope that you would agree that irrespective of the causal linkage, the fact that people have been allowed onto Wrexham’s streets to indulge in all sorts of stuff has emboldened the same people to go further and further and encouraged others to join in. This has led to a legal Apartheid system to come into play where the legal requirements applicable to most of us have been disregarded when it comes to others. Which leads me to the following. Firstly, we need to apply every possible remedy to the issue and turn around what appears to be broken lives (assuming that this is what the involved individuals want…….and the jury is out on that one Matt!!). Secondly, WCBC, The Police, the Community…..all should expect minimum standards of behaviour on our streets and the law should be applied without fear or favour in the interests of all (those dissuaded by its’ application as much as anyone else)

    #149132

    Sheefag
    Participant

    Might I suggest that if the miscreants are caught, dragged to the scene of the crime and have their faces squashed in it, then the occurrence may decrease.

    It’s far cheaper and effective than any of the multi-agency bollocks above.

    #149133

    bubble
    Participant

    [quote quote=149132]Might I suggest that if the miscreants are caught, dragged to the scene of the crime and have their faces squashed in it, then the occurrence may decrease.

    It’s far cheaper and effective than any of the multi-agency bollocks above.[/quote]

    In keeping with your “house training a domestic pet” theme, Sheefag, might I suggest that it’s the only way the miscreant will realise what the crime even was, as they’re unlikely to remember doing it, what with being off their heads at the time.

    #149134

    Sheefag
    Participant

    We can only hope that the taste and smell might go some way towards reminding them.

    #149147

    Sheefag
    Participant

    Brings a whole new level of authenticity to the popular term, ‘Getting Shitfaced’.

    #149260

    JohnSquire
    Participant

    There seem to be loads of homeless people by the ‘abandoned shopping complex’ on Henblas Street. The place is an utter mess. I thought someone had bought all those shops lately?

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