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Council’s plan to ditch park officers
A police team dedicated to patrolling Haringey's parks is one step closer to being scrapped in favour of a community-based programme.
Council chiefs made the decision last Tuesday to disband the Parks Constabulary,
consisting of 11 officers, but will consult residents before formally approving its
proposed alternative.
Although the officers have full police powers, they are paid by Haringey Council rather than the Metropolitan Police.
The new scheme would
follow the Parkforce model, a scheme supported by the Metropolitan Police.
Under the plans, the number of park staff would increase, and there would be closer working links with police Safer Neighbourhood teams (SNTs) and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV).
Parks would be divided into five zones, each headed by an SNT which would patrol the parks, responding to calls.
Each zone would also have an BTCV outreach officer, responsible for landscaping improvements, arranging corporate away days, and organising sports activities.
Councillor Dhiren Basu,
cabinet member for leisure,
culture and lifelong learning, said: "Eleven Parks Constabulary officers - no matter how dedicated - are always going to struggle to operate effectively across Haringey's 600 acres of
open space throughout the day.
"Through discussions with partners, particularly the Haringey Friends of Parks Forum and individual Friends groups, we have developed a new system which would result in much greater parks
supervision."
But David Winskill, Liberal Democrat spokesman for leisure, was not impressed with the plans.
He said: "We have looked very carefully at the report sent to cabinet two weeks ago and found that the proposals are very vague and have raised a lot of questions.
"As a group, we value greatly the contributions the Parks Constabulary has made since it was set up, having demonstrably reduced fear of crime in our parks.
"While we do support the idea of more park attendants during the day, we would have to be convinced that the overall benefits to park users would be served by abolishing the
constabulary."
If approved, the new park scheme is expected to come into effect by the end of March next year.
ELIZABETH PEARS
8:16am Saturday 3rd May 2008
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