Police Requested To Help

Continued reports of youths acting in a threatening manner and information received from the community has led to Councillor Phil Bateman & Councillor Dave Jones contacting the police and requesting that they take action.

Councillor Phil Bateman explains, " Over the last few months both Councillor Jones and myself have received reports of large gangs of youths trying to disrupt the youth club and basically making a nuisance of theirselves across our community on Ashmore Park.

Councillor Jones agreed that every substantiated complaint we receive should be logged by me with West Midlands Police. That is what we have done over the last few months. There is evidence being supplied that suggests that a ''gang culture'' is growing. I wrote to the police about that in October.

Since then other complaints have been reported to us as Councillors. All have been reported to Wednesfield Police. There is huge concerns about this and the threat to violence never mind the damage that is occurring. Even the Catholic Church has had windows broken whilst a service was taking place.

The police now inform me that they have a tasking package which was created for the special
constabulary to assist in the area particularly around the shopping parade at Griffith Drive and Higgs Road .

They have also tasked the street wardens to patrol the area in particular the Youth Club and Bucknal Rd area of the estate.

They believe this will have an effect in the area. I know that the community in Ashmore Park will be very interested in any outcomes, and will await feedback from the police with their success.

Both Councillor Jones and I want to ensure that the community feel safe and are safe on the estate. We want to see vandalism reduced, and more than that, we want to see the outcome of the police work publicised so that it acts as a deterrent to others."