Police patrols to be re-energised'

11:18am Wednesday 17th October 2001

Hertfordshire police are reviving an operation to target youths causing a nuisance in the McDonalds and Grosvenor Road areas of Borehamwood.

According to Hertfordshire Constabulary, the operation, launched in June, has not been as successful as was hoped, because the number of youths gathering was starting to increase again, despite a fall in July and August.

A Grosvenor Road resident agreed that the situation had improved, but suggested this may have been due to the youths gathering in Eldon Avenue instead, and from where they were now filtering back to Grosvenor Road and the area around McDonalds in Shenley Road.

Hertfordshire police launched Operation Jacobite in response to the number of incidents, including vandalism and noise, in the area on Friday nights.

As well as patrols by 12 to 15 officers on three Friday nights in June and July, the identities of more than 100 youths, who were there week-after-week, were taken from CCTV footage so that their parents could be visited and told about their behaviour.

Insp Dave Rankin, of Hertsmere's community police team, said, this week, that parents, who are still being visited by officers working their way through the list, were "generally very supportive" of the operation.

But, he also said: "There are still children congregating and youths causing a nuisance.

"We stopped getting as many calls through the end of July and August. We are mindful that it has started to become more of a problem again."

He said that, for this reason, the operation was on-going, and that police were looking at the youngsters, and at police work so far, and "re-energising".

He added: "We need to keep reminding the children that it is no good stopping for a month or two over the summer, but they ought to think about what effect they have on people full-stop."

The Grosvenor Road resident, who did not want to be named, said there had been a "noticable drop" in the number of youths and problems, in the two months after the police patrols.

But he added the problems had not disappeared completely in that time, and the youths were now starting to return.

He said: "Eldon Avenue residents told us they had been seeing more youths. We wondered whether the action had shifted down there, but was now beginning to come back."

The resident called for further police patrols, adding that, if this was not possible due to manpower problems, Hertsmere Borough Council should improve security, with cameras and gates, in the nearby alleyway running between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road.

He said no satisfactory responses had been received to two petitions sent in July one to Hertfordshire police pleading for more patrols, and one to the council about the alleyway.

A council spokesman said the council was "listening", was due to have a third meeting with the petitioners, and was waiting for responses from other agencies, including the police and Highways Partnership, on the issue.

lmcvicars@london.newsquest.co.uk