The chief constable of Merseyside Police has called on communities to work together to end antisocial behaviour at a public park.
Serena Kennedy said “we all want the same thing” in response to concerns raised with Merseyside’s leading police officer around ongoing activity at Everton Park. Members of the Friends of Everton Park group have lamented the ongoing nuisance at the location and called on Chief Con Kennedy for help.
In a tweet, they said: “Urgent solution needed for vandalism and bikes. We would urge action from @lpool_LSSL @lpoolcouncil @MerseyPolice to come together to solve this.
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“Surely @merpolchiefcon cannot be happy w/ masked scramblers hundreds of yards from Merseyside Police HQ??”
The park has been hit with “endemic” vandalism issues since the turn of the year to the heartache of the volunteer group that works to maintain the site. At the end of April, a burned out motorbike and graffiti were left at the Netherfield Road area of the park after fly-tipping and damage to fences and signage was reported in February.
On Tuesday evening, a man was shot in the leg near Everton Park before being dropped off at hospital on an electric bike. Officers spent time in the area afterwards and an appeal was issue to the public.
Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Wilson said: “Our enquiries so far have shown that a red, white and blue motocross bike was being ridden in the Everton Brow area and an electric bike was sighted on Prescot Road at the time of the incident. If you were driving in the Everton Road or Prescot Road areas last night and have dashcam footage then please review it and if you saw either of these bikes then let us know."
Liverpool Community Policing Superintendent Diane Pownall added: “Our local policing team in Everton also regularly meet with our partners at Liverpool City Council and City watch to conduct joint patrols and to discuss improvements to the CCTV covering the park and improvements to street lighting to help keep our community safe.
“Through regular high-visibility patrols and partnership working we will continue to make sure that Everton Park is a green space for everyone to enjoy the good weather we’ll be having over the next few days and over the rest of summer. "
In May, Sarah Rotheram, Merseyside Police Community Policing Inspector, said officers took a “zero-tolerance” approach to anti-social behaviour. A spokesperson for the Friends of Everton Park group said: It's becoming a major issue here now.
“The vandalism is a lot worse, some encourages more to happen and the scrambler bikes with balaclavas on has been happening for a few months at least.” Chief Con Kennedy responded to the group’s social media plea earlier this week in a bid to calm concerns.
She said: “Thanks for flagging this to me - I have raised this with the Local Policing Team who I know are working with you as key stakeholders and they are urgently considering how we prevent this type of antisocial behaviour & the crime associated with it occurring in the first place. I know that we all want the same thing - for people to be able to use our open spaces without fear of crime and when incidents do happen we need to work together as partners and with our community to identify the individuals responsible.
“Thank you again for highlighting this issue.”
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