Frew dismisses PSNI new rural crime plan as ‘froth and bubbles’

NORTH Antrim MLA and local councillor Paul Frew has reacted angrily to the revelation last week by a Ballymena PSNI Superintendent that a special police team is to ‘doorstep’ farmers in the borough as part of a crackdown on rural crime.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Mar 2012, 09:19 BST

Cllr Frew slammed the police for what he described as “masterminding froth and bubbles in the fight against rural crime and rural theft in particular”.

He said: “The PSNI are saying they are, and I quote, “shutting the gate on rural crime “ but I believe it’s more like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.

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“They are telling us that over the next fortnight and for five days local neighbourhood officers will be going round knocking doors in farmyards all around the mid -Antrim area to gather intelligence.

“This brings up questions like 1 - is this not what police officers should be doing anyway especially when a crime has been committed near that area?, 2 - who will be covering the routine duties of the community police officers when they are down lanes knocking doors?, and, more importantly, 3 - what extra resource will be brought in to assist in this campaign?”

Mr Frew added: “Also, it should be made clear that any information that is gleaned from this type of work could well be anecdotal and would have to be investigated and substantiated which could take up more time and effort and I’m sure they do not have the manpower in the rural part of Ballymena to cope.

“I’m very sceptical because this will be information that they would have already heard from the farming community at the several public meetings that have been held in Ballymena of late.”

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“I feel that this is more about headlines and press statements to counter the pressure that I have been applying, how can it be anything else when we see our rural Police stations under threat of closure,” said Mr Frew.

“We have seen broken promise after broken promise in Ballymena, when we lost Cullybackey police station the PSNI promised a police surgery in the village, that didn’t last long. When Kells police station closed, we were told that policing levels would remain the same and within a year the community lost their neighbourhood police officer.”

“If the police are to be commended for their actions I will be the first to commend them. If they achieve results then I will be the first to congratulate them, but I’m afraid when it comes to rural crime, I ain’t seen nothing yet,” he said .the DUP MLA.