Police 'obstacle' in Church Stretton citizen patrols plan
Plans for Police Academy-style street patrols by residents in a south Shropshire town have hit a stumbling block, the man who came up with the idea said today. Plans for Police Academy-style street patrols by residents in a south Shropshire town have hit a stumbling block, the man who came up with the idea said today. John Woolmer, who lives near Church Stretton, had suggested setting up a Streetwatch scheme to combat vandalism and anti-social behaviour in the town. But he said the police response was "disappointing". Mr Woolmer will now take the suggestion to local MP Philip Dunne at his constituency surgery later this week to see if he thinks the scheme could work.
Plans for Police Academy-style street patrols by residents in a south Shropshire town have hit a stumbling block, the man who came up with the idea said today.
John Woolmer, who lives near Church Stretton, had suggested setting up a Streetwatch scheme to combat vandalism and anti-social behaviour in the town. But he said the police response was "disappointing".
Mr Woolmer will now take the suggestion to local MP Philip Dunne at his constituency surgery later this week to see if he thinks the scheme could work.
He said: "I did meet with police. They said there wasn't enough anti-social behaviour to warrant it. That's fair enough, up to a point, but the very next day an Audi was smeared with paint costing £500 to repair.
"The disappointing thing was that they didn't do any research and I got the impression they weren't going to."
Richard Ewels, a spokesman for West Mercia Police, today said: "If Mr Woolmer has had a meeting with officers to discuss his ideas, I have no further comment to make at this stage."
Mr Woolmer said he had found the idea interesting because it had proved cost-effective in Hampshire, Surrey and Bedfordshire.
He was inspired to take action after seeing 15 instances of vandalism and anti-social behaviour affect schemes he had helped.
