The double standards of our local police

The duty of the police is to apply the law impartially to all. But here in Hyde Park and Woodhouse, the local police do not apply the law impartially to all. They have a duty to enforce the byelaws and yet they turn a blind eye to the people who light fires, drop litter and play amplified music on Woodhouse Moor.  These are all activities which contravene the byelaws, and which in some instances result in criminal damage, and yet no action is ever taken against the perpetrators. That our local police pick and choose which laws they will apply and which they will ignore is illustrated by a letter that appeared recently in the Yorkshire Evening Post from Inspector Simon Jessup of our local neighbourhood policing team :

“It may seem like a low-level crime to some but  it ruins how an area looks and makes people feel unsafe. It is criminal  damage on large scale, costing council taxpayers thousands of pounds to  put right”

He’s not  talking about barbeques on Woodhouse Moor which ruin the look of a huge part  of our area and last year cost over £100,000 in fire engine call-outs. He’s talking about graffiti.

Local residents who are sick and tired of being unable to use their local park because of police inaction over anti social behaviour, have taken Inspector Jessup to task over his and his colleagues’ double standards. In a published reply to the inspector, Tony Green advises him that a few exemplary arrests would solve the anti social behaviour problem overnight. And Helen Graham asks the inspector how he can stand by and do nothing when there are people breaking the byelaws by barbecuing and leaving a horrible mess all over the park.

It’s time our local police realised that their behaviour on this issue is bringing their name into disrepute. Parking on double yellow lines doesn’t help either.