‘Frustrated’ police appeal for help to combat anti-social behaviour

“FRUSTRATED” local police are appealing to residents of Pembroke Road and surrounding areas for help to combat anti-social behaviour in the area.

The Melksham Neighbourhood Policing Team has reassured residents that they are aware of  ongoing issues with a group of “youths” causing anti-social behaviour in the area and has explained that they are “taking steps to address this.”

However, in response to online discussion by residents about what the police should be doing to tackle the problem, the policing team has highlighted that in the last three months, out of 540 reports for the Melksham area, they have only received 10 calls from the Pembroke Road area.

The policing team has said that they are aware that the issue is “much deeper” than the 10 reported incidents, and has explained that they need residents to report all crimes that they witness.

“We cannot work on rumour and hearsay; we need evidence,” said Sgt Twyford in a online statement.

Sgt Twyford’s statement in full said, “A frustrated plea to the residents of Pembroke Road and surrounding areas: We are aware of the ongoing issues with a group of ‘youths’ causing anti-social behaviour in the area and we are taking steps to address this.

“Clearly, due to the ages of those involved; we cannot publicise the outcomes of any investigations, other than to say that we have laid charges where there has been evidence to attribute criminal behaviour to specific individuals.  

“Those who legitimately need to know have already been informed of these outcomes, although they are also legally obliged not to discuss this.  There has been a significant amount of action taken already, but it’s a work in progress and will take some time to fully resolve. We are also aware of a recent post on a local (social media) page which has propagated some strong feelings toward the group in question.  

“There has been a lot of discussion in the comments about what people feel that we should be doing, but only two members of that discussion have reported anything to us.

“I ask this of you:  If you are a witness to a crime; come forward and report it.  There may be enough evidence to proceed, there may not be; but if it isn’t reported then of course it won’t get resolved.  

“In the last 3 months, we have only received 10 calls from the area; half of which were anonymous and only three involved a crime being committed. That’s one crime per month being reported amidst the 540 other logs we received for the wider town area over the same time period.

“To those of you who will say “but you’re not interested anyway,” we are.  We are more than aware that the issue is much deeper than the 10 reported incidents, but we cannot work on rumour and hearsay; we need evidence.  

“We need eyewitnesses who will put their name to statements; we need people who will support action against these groups by placing a signature on their statement.  We need CCTV and most importantly, names of those involved in each and every incident.  Just because something wasn’t proceedable last time, doesn’t make it the case with subsequent incidents; every report is assessed on its own merits.

“You have a Neighbourhood Team made up of fellow members of your community, who live and work here, who want to resolve these issues and who want to offer a high quality service.  We need people to come forward in a constructive manner though, in order to be most effective.”