Dear Karen
Just a quick note to thank you for organising the Ramsgate Police Review meeting. A very useful session airing lots of similar concerns by businesses and public and councillors.
I've lived here c.18 years and with Surin Thai restaurant for most of that and stood as Mayor and MP and never seen it as bad as the last 12 months or so.
Worth remembering specific lowlights in the recent decline:
* tramp tent on High St near WH Smith for all last Summer and cops ticketing it
* Weekend of Blood last week with airlifted stab victim
* a dozen naughty KFC/Subway Kids
* a dozen tramps and street drinkers at the crossroads, previously in Streetdrinker Square by the police station (!) and by Wilko. The cops can't even patrol around the cop shop.
* knife fight outside Red Lion at 4pm(!)
* tramps camped out on Harbour St for c.8 months
* axe man on High St
* BMX bikes on pedzone and cars, often the wrong way in the one way system - somebody will be knocked over and killed: an OAP or child
* cars on pavements: kebab shop car
* junkie dying in public toilets near Barclays last week
* open drugs dealing at the High St crossroads
* tramps collapsed and ambulance 9am on Sunday morning
* street drinking from 8am, tramps throwing up at 9am in town centre on a Sunday(!)
* six gypsy caravans and vans parked on the actual seafront promenade(!) for over 10 days at Bank Holiday: same/next day removal needed
As I said in the meeting the main issue is lazy cops.
All the above very basic problems of course means less visitors, less tax, less jobs/payrises, less public services, brain drain etc etc.
There is c.£250k in new Street team TDC funding (if not £500k) and prowl cars, similar policing staff levels over the months/years, new CCTV, multi agency etc etc.
All of which is useless without enforcement and foot patrols.
The recent crime surge is an underculture of thuggery and drugs that has become overt through lack of policing: drug dealing, thugs, skunk cannabis openly smoked, illegal/dangerous driving etc.
Specifically I visited the police station c.3 weeks ago and spoke to the police there over various incidents and was horrified:
* PC Sharon Doughty: unsure who was in charge/nobody in charge - it was a base to change uniforms. I thought Sgt Moat was day to day in charge and now with Laura interim at Margate?
* PCSO James Howard: parking on pavement is OK as long as it's just one side of the pavement not both sides(!) Police training apparently. Refusal to contact CCTV on drive through cars as policy of their own making. Also not 24 hours?.
* PC Andy Hawe: streetdrinkers under the no streetdrinkers signs are OK unless they get more drunk and cause subsequent undefined trouble - invariably at night as the day shift clocks off.
Other members of public in the meeting citing police just wandering around and inaction with crimes in front of them and reporting crimes at the cop shop to inaction.
There also seemed no liaison between the day and nght shifts and prowl cars.
The result of all those systemic points is of course a cushy life of inaction for the cops and riding the decline down. And increased tax to reverse the problems as people are sacked/transferred.
I have heard/seen/had no/few issues with pubs/cafes serving drunk customers etc and both the bouncers and street cleaning teams do a good job. Especially Thorley Taverns.
The public have mentioned The Goose very late at night but I don't know of any details.
Perhaps Wetherspoons as a factor as the largest pub in UK with the violence concerns raised at the time?
The prowl cars do a good job but obviously they just drive through without stopping unless there is a 999 call.
The policing seems to be 9-5 and not at weekends at all except with the prowl cars?
10-10 policing would be better 7 days, also extending pedzone 8-10 and to seafront.
Concern at the 101 reports delays mentioned.
To help I think there are some proven points that work:
1. Broken Window Bratton: regular crime monitoring and zero tolerance. The current softly softly approach has devloved into inaction.
2. Police monthly reports as you mentioned eg patrols, arrests, CCTV reg no etc etc
3. Newsagents ban on selling single drinks cans and serving tramps. ASBO and Drugs Most Wanted and hauls
4. East Kent version of main Most Wanted
5. Foot patrols
6. An ambulance forward-positioned discreetly on the seafront at weekends would be useful as before with Mayor Green for heart attacks etc
7. 999/101 calls review
8. Drugs: port/yachts as with Manston 3am flights no police checks
9. TDC (RTC) inward investment dept: little delivered by Locate in Kent, Kent Film Office, Produced in Kent etc etc
10. Police issuing parking tickets as they patrol: there seems a view that they shouldn't be doing that especially at night - also prowl car reports of broken street lights/potholes etc
11. Knife ban/extra year in jail
12. Pedzone/pavements - clamp and crush cars
None of these problems are some vast issue of County Lines and Krays gangs it's the normal crime of a small 30k seaside town that has been neglected.
Worrying that Margate residents now see Ramsgate as rough when the reverse has usually been true.
Any cop day or night should feel free to stop and search for drugs/knives especially with known repeat offenders and in the town centre/seafront. And advise on court sentencing/delays.
The taser cupboard is a minor point and I have concerns on if/how they are used as you raised too. And machine guns/ammo/training costs for minor crime.
Reeling in any police drones/AI/facial recognition bloat sooner rather than later would be useful too. Faecal recognition would be more useful given the state of the towns. Or for where the cops are hiding.
A few wider issues are:
1. KCC and London borough social dumping: review of care homes, hostels, property purchases etc etc?
2. And truancy/expelled/offrolling from schools?
3. Concern at suggestions of TDC removing benches: policing is the issue not street furniture/trees for beautification. And pubs with their own outside CCTV: again a policing issue with new CCTV. Pubs are already funding bouncers in the absence of policing.
Worrying if the cops live in the area but aren't bothered.
4. Quartery issuing of police/council tax rather than annual and via a reformed RTC would ensure better public/councillor grip on services provided
The danger being the proverbial pay more and get less and do it yourself - especially with KCC £2BN and Kent Police £300M budgets all with semiautomatic increases. Public donations are nice but those budgets are tax funds for town improvements.
5. The Harbour St RTC £1.5M has disappeared/no FOI? And a £400k budget is too low given Ramsgate tax is c.£17m as is switching budgets between the towns to paper over the cracks and not obtain extra funds. 30% Styles RTC tax reserves and purdah election breach is absurd.
Fair points on jobs and investment and youth work by Charlton Athletic etc.
6. Review of Police Domestic Extremist database with councillors spied on and Cllr Driver TDC prosecurion for revealing Pleasurama corruption documents
7. A petty point list: tarmac repairs of brickwork High St are a mess, Xmas decorations left up in June, trees cut down and not replaced/with small saplings etc, bin collection on streets around market day should be rejigged so as not on Friday, faster Public Health clean up of flytipping: typhoid, typhus, cholera and Pandemics etc
Many of these issues also apply to Margate and Cnaterbury High St - all the towns benefit form the other towns doing well. A Westwood Cross review of tax etc would be useful given its strategic failure.
Four other wider issues:
1. Cancelling and clearing Pleasurama - this has failed
2. Cancelling Manston and Parkway - these have failed
3. Demolish Ramsgate £8M fire station on sports fields/swimming pool
Worth remembering that over £60M on these corruption and vanity projects has been wasted.
4. KCC in Private Eye Rotten boroughs for a further £60M waste on pensions
From the above a minimum of £120M KCC development budget for Ramsgate?
A wider issue is ensuring public sector failure has consequences in pay cuts, sackings etc etc.
Obviously everybody wants a wonderful Summer 2019 and preparations - in advance - for Autumn/Xmas and 2020 plus key events such as Yacht Week and Dunkirk Little ships and Sandwich Golf Open.
Hope these are useful and many thanks again for your efforts.
Kindest regards
Tim
PS: Addendum
* a review of TDC/KCC policy to end jail for council tax nonpayment and BBC licence fee (30% court cases) given Parliament petitions would be useful
No comments:
Post a Comment