Winning war on street yobs in North Ayr

Apr 30 2008 By Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post

COPS pounding the beat in North Ayr have cut youth disorder by almost a fifth.

A crackdown over April saw extra officers drafted in to keep an eye on teenagers who might otherwise cause havoc in the area.

Officers bombarded the area on foot, in cars, on horseback, on bikes and in a mobile support unit in a bid to stamp out anti-social behaviour in the area.

Statistics show that Friday and Saturday nights between 4pm and 10pm are the busiest time for cops tackling youth disorder.

So the initiative was started and the results prove it worked.

Compared to April 2007, youth disorder was down by 19 per cent.

Speaking of the success, Superintendent John Hazlett, head of policing in South Ayrshire said:

“Our approach so far is clearly helping to drive down violent crime in the area and helping to make communities safer.

“We will continue to pursue a relentless approach to tackle all types of violent crime and issues of concern for local residents.

“Our activities will be focused, concerted and we will continue to deter violence and reduce opportunities for violence to prevail through high visibility and pro-active intelligence led patrols.”

The next phase of the Strathclyde-wide initiative will see cops coming down hard on people in possession of weapons.

Supt Hazlett continued: “Carrying weapons isn’t clever and if you do choose to carry a knife or a weapon, the chances are we’ll find you.

“I would urge young people, their parents, and local residents to work with the police and our partners to tackle violence by reporting knife or weapon carriers before it’s too late.”

Michael Gilardi and his wife Maria have run the Londis shop in Westwood Crescent for more than 20 years.

And although the couple have a great rapport with most of the youngsters who come into the shop, he knows that some of them cause chaos after getting tanked up on booze.

But Michael believes that high visibility police patrols are the answer to tackling the problem.

The Gilardis co-operate with police in all initiatives they run, in particular the bottle marking and test purchasing schemes.

Michael said: “Outside the shop has been a lot quieter over the last month.

“I believe that having a police presence is the best way to deal with it rather than changes in licensing laws.

“It definitely makes a difference. It stops youths hanging about and drinking in the street and it stops the agents selling to people who are underage – 99 per cent of agents are legit but there is the odd per cent who will do it if they know they can get away with it.

“I have CCTV inside the shop and outside it, but they will stand drinking in front of it because they know that the police aren’t going to come and look at it.

"The agents can only do so much. Changes in licensing laws won’t make much difference without the back-up on the street.”