Published date: 18 April 2016 |
Published by: Jonathan GrieveRead more articles by Jonathan Grieve Email reporter
TACKLING open drug dealing on Wrexham’s biggest housing estate, should be the number one priority for police say community leaders.
They have told police they must take the problem more seriously, when asked what they felt officers should be focusing on.
At this month’s Caia Park Community Council meeting members also nominated anti-social behaviour, particularly use of motorbikes and arson, to complete their ‘top three’ issues.
But it was the open drug deals that councillors felt needed urgent attention.
Wynnstay councillor Pat Williams was astonished that in the crime statistics for March there were only four reports of drug offences, all in Smithfield.
She said: “Go for a walk at 9am, 1pm, 6pm and 10pm and they are all there, waiting for the drop-offs.
“Near Hullah Lane, the Dunks, the (Queensway) stadium, and Y Wern – they are all hotspots.
“Yet every month we get the statistics, it’s zeroes.
“They are doing it in areas where children are around.
“There was a game of football on the Dunks the other night and they were there.
“Sometimes there can be up to 50 of them hanging around there.
“I know the police don’t have the resources, and operations take time to put together, but you see it every day.”
Smithfield councillor Jayne Johnson said: “It’s become so widespread, you’re just used to seeing it.”
Another Wynnstay councillor, Malcolm King, said dealing was so rife it was “seeping in to become part of the culture on the estate”.
He said: “It’s like the postman coming round – you can set your clock by it on the Dunks every day.
“You cannot spend more than half an hour anywhere in Caia Park and not see it I’m afraid.
“We’re not just talking about three people doing it furtively behind a bush.
“It is fairly shocking how open it is, and it feels like the whole community just has to grin and bear it.
“Yet for most on the estate this is not acceptable and it is a huge affront to the majority of people in Caia Park. These figures are just not credible.”
Cllr King said he feared the police had accepted drugs on the estate and questioned whether it would be tolerated in other parts of Wrexham.
Council chairman, Whitegate councillor Marc Jones, suggested police take a “zero-tolerance approach to send a message it is not acceptable, especially near schools and play areas”.
PCSO’s Rob Parry and Sophie McLellan, who were representing North Wales Police at the meeting agreed they could see the problem.
They reminded the council and residents that incidents of drug dealing needed to be detailed and reported as soon as possible.
PCSO Parry said their concerns would be passed on to senior officers.
He said: “It is something we will have to feed back to the inspector and let him know about the growing concern.”
see-http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/161037/tackling-drug-dealing-in-caia-park-should-be-police-s-number-one-priority-.aspx
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