Operation Stay Safe Keeps Youngsters Out Of Harm's Way
Friday, 22 May, 2009
POLICE in Walsall are staging a pioneering operation to keep young people safe and cut anti-social behaviour.
Operation Stay Safe will run in three neighbourhoods in the Walsall area on Thursday 28 May when police officers will be picking up any young people they see out on the streets or in the parks, who they feel could be at risk.
They will then be taken to a 'place of safety' where they can be cared for by Youth and Children's Services while their parents are contacted.
Sergeant Gary Iliff said it is the first time police in the region have run such an operation, which uses powers under the Children Act. It has been trialled by Merseyside police, but if it is successful, more could follow.
Operation Stay Safe aims to:
* Protect children left to wander the streets at night without responsible adult supervision
* Protect children at risk of consuming alcohol
* Tackle crime and anti-social behaviour
* Educate young people away from gangs
* Promote responsible parenting
Sgt Iliff said: "From 6pm on Thursday night officers will be patrolling the Pleck and Delves, Cadmore and Palfrey and Alumwell and Birchills areas, looking for young people under the age of 17 who they believe could be at risk of harm. It will be down to the officers' judgement.
"It could be a young person of 11-years-old who is out late at night with no-one else around; or it could be one with a can of lager in their hand; or one with older children or adults who are acting irresponsibly. It is down to the officers to decide if there is a risk.
"We will then pick them up and take them to a local youth club where Youth Services workers can talk to them and call their parents to come and collect them. They can have a proper talk with the family and discuss any issues there and then and that is why Stay Safe is so unique. It enables and relies on a full interagency response.
"If their parents don't come and pick them up, then we can visit the family home."
Operation Stay Safe has the backing of the Home Office and it is hoped that parents and local residents will support the scheme on Thursday.
Police in Walsall will then repeat the operation on other dates throughout the year, particularly in areas with a high number of incidents of anti-social behaviour.
