[Friends] Motorised police vehicles in parks

Sun May 9 02:15:07 BST 2010

Hi
There is also a guy that works in the park and he regularly tears around at about 35 mph which is a 5mph zone.  I aggree that it can be very disconcerting and alarming when he suddenly appears and you are not expecting it. 

________________________________
From: FLR Mailing List <friends at lordshiprec.org.uk>
To: friends at lordshiprec.org.uk
Sent: Tue, February 12, 2008 11:11:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Friends] Motorised police vehicles in parks

What freaked me a bit was a police car that looked like an ordinary car. I challenged its driver and passenger were they authorised then they said 'we're police'. Couldn't plain clothes police if/when they REALLY need to drive across a park put up some notice with a police logo on the windscreen just whilst they are there ?  
Unless they suddenly decide to go into a park in pursuit etc whilst in the middle of some other operation, it would be better for any car that does enter a park to be a marked one anyway - that is, if they must bring in vehicles, let them be ones we can identify so we know what's going on, so that it doesn't set such a bad example to anyone who thinks 'that's an ordinary car, I could do that',and for whatever deterrent effect goes with patrols in visibly police vehicles.

Anne Gray

FLR Mailing List <friends at lordshiprec.org.uk> wrote:
Thanks for forwarding this correspondence.  
> 
>I'd just like to say in defence of YR that I called them from Lordship Rec when three youths with Pit Bulls/'staffs' were encouraging their dogs to chew up the rubber seats on children's play equipment.  I started by phoning the council who put me through to 'parls' but in fact to the background noise of an office with nobody responding to me.  I then made a 999 call and got an excellent response, the Police took a full description and turned up to look for the youths.  ( I dont know if they found them, the youths saw me phoning and once they had finally managed to unclench the dog's jaw from the seat it was destroying they hot-footed it away across the park).
> 
>So maybe the is something those off-road bikes might be useful for!
> 
>Best regards
> 
>Gina Fenton 
________________________________
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 11:02:37 +0000
>To: friends at lordshiprec.org.uk
>From: friends at lordshiprec.org.uk
>Subject: Re: [Friends] Motorised police vehicles in parks
>
>To the Friends
>
>We enclose below the reply we have received from the Haringey Police regarding our complaint about the unacceptable manner in which police motorbikes had been recently driven in Lordship Rec. Since we circulated our complaint we have heard of similar incidents (involving motorbikes and cars) in other parks. 
>
>We asked the Borough Commander whether there was, or should be Guidelines about this. However, the following statement seems pretty clear that any police motorbikes (or, by extention, cars) in parks and green spaces must act responsibly. Please let us know if there are any future problems.
>
>Dave and Joan
>Friends of Lordship Rec
>
>
>
>Dave Morris & Joan Curtis
> 
>I will speak with my motorcyclists to ensure that they do not travel at excessive speed in our parks, do not enter the play area, and, wherever possible they will be required to avoid driving over the grass areas.
> 
>Regards
> 
>Wayne Mawson, Superintendent.
>[Haringey Police - Senior Management Team]
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>
>-----Original Message----- 
>>>From: dave [mailto:dave at cupboard.org] 
>>>Sent: 02 February 2008 11:34 
>>>To: Mawson Wayne - YR 
>>>Cc: De Souza Brady Shaun M - YR; Middleton Craig - YR; Hembury Mark - YR; O'Callaghan Barry - YR; jcurtis at brownreference.com 
>>>Subject: Re: Motorised vehicles in parks
>>>
>>>
>>>Dear Wayne Mawson / Superintendent, Haringey Borough Met Police  
>>>cc Met Police Colleagues, Joan Curtis (Friends of Lordship Rec)
>>>
>>>
>>>2.2.08
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Thanks for the offer to meet up to discuss ASB. We will certainly consider this after we have received a reply to the questions and issues we have raised in our letter. We have a meeting this weekend and therefore if it is possible to reply, at least in part, to our questions, we will be able to report to our members and discuss the issue further.
>>>
>>>
>>>Sincerely
>>>
>>>
>>>Dave Morris and Joan Curtis 
>>>Friends of Lordship Rec
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>At 08:35 02/02/2008 +0000, Wayne.Mawson at met.police.uk wrote: FAO Dave Morris & Joan Curtis:
>>>>Thank you for your email. I am keen to speak with you personally to discuss police tactics to tackle ASB and arrest prolific and priority offenders, part of which involves the very successful use of our specially commissioned off-road police motorcycles.
>>>>I would be grateful if you email to me a few alternative times and dates when I can arrange to come and meet you.
>>>>Kind regards
>>>>Wayne Mawson, Superintendent
>>>>Haringey Borough 
>>>>-----Original Message----- 
>>>>From: Victorio Romeo - YR On Behalf Of YR Mailbox - Haringey Borough 
>>>>Sent: 31 January 2008 15:22 
>>>>To: Mawson Wayne - YR 
>>>>Subject: FW: Motorised vehicles in parks
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>From: dave [mailto:dave at cupboard.org] 
>>>>Sent: 31 January 2008 13:41 
>>>>To: YR Mailbox - Haringey Borough 
>>>>Cc: SNT YR - West Green; SNT YR - Bruce Grove 
>>>>Subject: Motorised vehicles in parks
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>To: Metropolitan Police - Haringey Borough Commander 
>>>>cc. Safer Neighbourhood Teams, Bruce Grove and West Green 
>>>>From: Friends of Lordship Rec
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>31st January 2008
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Motorised vehicles in parks
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>To the Borough Commander's office
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>1. On Tuesday 29th January about 8am, two uniformed Met officers were riding motorbikes in Lordship Recreation Ground, Central Tottenham, where they were observed by one of our members riding on the children's adventure playground walkway and in other areas in an inappropriate and unsafe way. The member, concerned by such actions, has asked us to take this up with you to get some assurances about police motor vehicles in parks in the future.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>2. We have a number of concerns raised by what was observed:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>- driving on the paths at undue speed. We understand there's a speed limit of 5mph in Haringey Parks. 
>>>>- driving onto the wooden play structures in the adventure play area 
>>>>- driving onto grass (which causes ruts)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>3. The issues raised include:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>- unnecessary noise and traffic in a tranquill green space 
>>>>- safety of park users 
>>>>- damage to equipment 
>>>>- damage to grass 
>>>>- setting a bad example
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>4. On the last point - we, like all Friends groups, work hard to discourage any motorbikes in our parks. Ideally there should be no motorbikes entering our parks - but if there is an identified need for a Met officer to enter in this way it is essential that they act 100% responsibly. Otherwise it will encourage other motorbike users to do the same.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>5. In general it would be more appropriate if officers who need to patrol or visit parks are on foot or use bicycles rather than motorbikes. This is because people go to parks to play and relax and they are not looking out for vehicles.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>6. Whilst we are not calling for any action against the specific officers, we are seeking an assurance that there are or will be Met policy Guidelines about this matter, addressing our concerns, and issued to officers who may be involved in entering or patrolling parks. 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>7. We hope you take this in the constructive spirit in which it has been sent. When we have raised similar concerns in the past we are pleased to say they have been resolved. For example:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>- the need to preserve attractive greenery in our parks and street scene, whilst acknowledging that sight-lines are also important for safety reasons. Hence, in the Lordship Rec woodland near the Downhills Park Rd entrance, police expressed concerns re anti-social behaviour in the Woodland and there were suggestions to fence off the area. After the intervention of the Friends, the Parks Dept agreed with the Friends' proposal to turn the Woodland into an open, active conservation and education area. Since then the low-lying foliage and shrubs have been thinned out, and the Friends have obtained grants to help us create a new woodchip path through the woods (now nearly complete thanks to the Friends and BTCV volunteers), and display boards (which we are currently designing) etc. Hence the area has been positively and successfully reclaimed.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>- the need to reduce the fear of crime by not putting out exaggerated or sensationalist crime stories or statistics which might discourage park usage. The aim is to 'crowd out crime'. For example, the Friends of Downhills Park challenged some crime statistics put out a couple of years ago about their park in a Met press release which the Met later accepted were inaccurate and exaggerated. There were then no more concerns about this until recently.  At the end of last year the Council and Friends groups across the borough proposed that the resources currently put into the Parks Constabulary would be more effectively spent on on-site parks staffing. This unfortunately resulted in some ill-informed and sensationalist media headlines such as 'Crime rampant in the parks' (Advertiser, Dec 19th). However we are pleased that the Met Police gave the press accurate statistics which showed that there was in fact an average of less than 2 reported crimes a day
 in the borough's parks over the previous 12 months. 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>8. We are committed to improving and regenerating Lordship Rec in partnership with all stakeholders through the Lordship Rec Users Forum. Following 5 years continuous effort of the groups involved with the Forum, and the development of a masterplan for the park, we are currently awaiting the result of the Council's application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £3.6m - let's hope we get the money! 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Sincerely
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Joan Curtis and Dave Morris 
>>>>- for the Friends of Lordship Rec   
>________________________________
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