Wellington was the location for our vox pop, asking people about there experience and thoughts on anti-social behaviour.
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00:00Okay, so living in the local area, have you been a victim or experienced any anti-social behaviour or crime in the area, low-level crime that is?
00:09I used to have, sort of outside where I live, yeah.
00:12And what sort of crime was that?
00:14It was just people being loud, playing cars, stereos, gathering and harassing people as they were walking past.
00:25Sort of a shopping area and they used to gather there, people used to gather there a lot.
00:33Okay, so what kind of effect did this have on you and other local residents?
00:36Well, it used to make it a bit uncomfortable to go to the shops.
00:39And obviously, you know, if they're sort of playing loud music in their car stereos off and on all day, it does get a little bit Guantanamo, you know.
00:49And it's sort of, it's a bit distressing, you know, it doesn't make a nice atmosphere, you know.
00:56And when they're smoking drugs as well and you've got the smell of drugs coming over your house, it's like, why am I living here?
01:02Yeah, and how frequent was this though?
01:05It was, when it was really bad, it was sort of pretty much every weekend and some evenings as well.
01:11Did you report it to the police?
01:12Oh yeah, often.
01:14And did they show enough care about it?
01:18They advised me to go to the council, the community liaison.
01:26Okay, and did you see any action taken at all?
01:29People used to drive round, community officers came round.
01:34They must have been doing some good because I spoke to community liaison officers
01:42and they said that they'd issued a couple of warnings that if they carried on doing it, they'd take the cars off them.
01:49And do you think then maybe that this sort of low-level crime has been on the rise over recent years?
01:57Or do you think we see more now or less now maybe?
02:00I think it's probably about the same, it just moves around.
02:03As places become more popular and places sort of, I don't think particularly that it's any worse, you know, we're not, this is Wellington.
02:11You know, there is crime, yeah, and it's horrible when it happens to you, but I don't think it's increased.
02:18And say you saw, I don't know, shoplifting or drugs being used in the streets today, would you feel inclined to report that to the police?
02:25Yeah, I do.
02:26Yeah, and you feel like action would be taken by them?
02:28No.
02:30Well, thanks very much for your time.
02:33Action.
02:34So living in the local area, have you been a victim or experienced any antisocial behaviour or crime in the area, low-level crime that is?
02:43I used to have, but sort of outside where I live, yeah.
02:46And what sort of crime was that?
02:48It was, it was just people being loud, playing cars, stereos, gathering and harassing people as they were walking past and sort of a, it's like a shopping area and they used to gather there, people used to gather there a lot.
03:07Okay, so what kind of effect did this have on you and other local residents?
03:11It used to make it a bit uncomfortable to go to the shops and obviously, you know, if they're sort of playing loud music in their car stereos off and on all day, it does get a little bit Guantanamo, you know, and it's sort of, it's a bit distressing, you know, it doesn't make a nice atmosphere.
03:30You know, and when they're smoking drugs as well and you've got the smell of drugs coming over your house, it's like, why am I living here?
03:37Yeah, and how frequent was this though?
03:39It was, when it was really bad, it was sort of pretty much every weekend and some evenings as well.
03:45Did you report it to the police?
03:46Oh yeah, often.
03:48And did they show enough care about it?
03:50They advised me to go to the council, the community liaison.
04:00Okay, and did you see any action taken at all?
04:03People used to drive round, community officers came round.
04:08They must have been doing some good because I spoke to community liaison officers and they said that they'd issued a couple of warnings that if they carried on doing it, they'd take the cars off them.
04:23Okay.
04:24Yeah.
04:26And do you think then maybe that this sort of low-level crime has been on the rise over recent years or do you think we see more now or less now maybe?
04:34I think it's probably about the same, it just moves around.
04:37As places become more popular and places sort of, I don't think particularly that it's any worse, you know, we're not, this is Wellington.
04:45You know, there is crime, yeah, and it's horrible when it happens to you but I don't think it's increased.
04:52And say you saw, I don't know, shoplifting or drugs being used in the streets today, would you feel inclined to report that to the police?
04:59Yeah, I'd do.
05:00Yeah, and you feel like action would be taken by them?
05:02No.
05:03Well, thanks very much for your time.
05:06No, no.
05:08Hi, how are you?
05:09No need to be nervous.
05:10Hiya, girls.
05:11So we're asking people today in Wellington, have they experienced or been victims of any antisocial behaviour?
05:15So have you seen maybe shoplifting, have you seen any drugs being taken, anything like that?
05:20I've seen drug deals, yeah, and drunks and fights.
05:25Yeah, mainly on the church.
05:27On the church?
05:28Yeah.
05:29And how often would you say you've seen this?
05:31Oh, we see it all last year, didn't we?
05:33Yeah.
05:34Not every day.
05:35I wouldn't say, well, maybe not every day but it's quite frequent.
05:37I'd say about every day.
05:38Yeah, it's usually, I think, possibly, not maybe homeless but people that have definitely got drug addiction problems and alcoholism and stuff like that
05:49and it can get a little bit heated and the police are called.
05:52How does it feel to see that?
05:54For me, not great because obviously I work with vulnerable young people so, you know, you want to keep them safe at all times so, yeah, it's not great to see.
06:02Yeah.
06:03You say the police were called, have you ever contacted the police regarding anything that you've seen?
06:08I personally, no.
06:09You haven't?
06:10Yeah, I've had to.
06:11I've had to when there's been kind of trouble over the churchyard.
06:14Yeah.
06:15But they are quick to respond but it's limited to what they can actually do because these people keep on coming back and they've got to have somewhere to go as well.
06:24Yeah, that leads me to say, do you feel like the police do enough about issues like this in the local area?
06:29Definitely not.
06:30I feel like they just have to, you know, go away and it just ends up coming back and it's the same repeated issue over and over again.
06:36So, if you were to see something happen, for instance, now, would you be inclined to call the police maybe?
06:43Sorry, I'm supposed to be annoyed on somebody's lap.
06:45Would you be inclined to call them maybe and let them know or do you think it would be a waste of time doing that?
06:49I feel like it's just a waste of time, really.
06:51I feel like it depends on how bad the situation is. Like, if there was drugs and fighting, then yeah, but...
06:55Yeah.
06:56If they're like...
06:57It's a small, minor issue and all that, like, it's just a waste of time because they just keep coming back.
07:02The last question is, do you feel safe in the area?
07:05Not alone, but with someone, then yeah.
07:07Yeah.
07:08When you're with, like, a group, then you're fine.
07:10Why is that, if I may ask?
07:12Because you know you're not alone.
07:13And they're all very unpredictable. You don't know what they're about to do.
07:16Yeah.
07:17Thanks very much for your time, girls.
07:19We're here out in Wellington today and we're asking residents, have they experienced or been a victim of any antisocial behaviour?
07:26Have you personally seen anything like drugs being taken, fights maybe?
07:30No.
07:31No? And do you think maybe there's been a decrease then over the years of seeing things like this?
07:35I think so, yeah.
07:36Why do you think that is?
07:38I'm not sure really, but I suppose everybody's trying to get on, aren't they?
07:44We just asked a similar question, do you feel safe in Wellington?
07:49Yeah.
07:50And say you were to experience any low-level crime and see it in the street, would you be inclined to report it to the police?
07:56Yes.
07:57Do you think that something would be done about it?
07:59Well, if it isn't, I'd do it myself.
08:02Do you think the police understand the low-level crime that happened in the area?
08:05No.
08:06No? Why do you think that is?
08:08I don't know. They don't come round enough.
08:13So you'd like to see more presence of them maybe in the area?
08:16Yeah.
08:17Why do you think this is? Do you think it's been better dealt with in the past maybe than now?
08:22I don't know.
08:23I don't know.
08:24I don't know.
08:25I don't know.
08:26I don't know.
08:27Why do you think this is? Do you think it's been better dealt with in the past maybe than now?
08:32That I couldn't tell you.
08:35Alright, that's no problem. Thank you very much.
08:38Go on then, Luke.
08:39So Peter, we were asking people today, have they been victims of or experienced or seen any antisocial or low-level crime in the region?
08:48Yeah, I've seen a fair bit in Shrewsbury when I was working there for four weeks during the summer.
08:54And yeah, we were collecting well over 100 needles a week from some of the public toilets when we were cleaning them and emptying all the dustbins and things like that.
09:03So yeah, we saw needles all round the public toilets right in the centre of Shrewsbury.
09:09What's your reaction to seeing this and how does it make you feel when you see this sort of stuff happening?
09:13Well, it's very sad because Shrewsbury's a lovely town.
09:16And to see the amount of needles and stuff in the flowerbeds and stuff like that right in the middle of the quarry where you've got thousands and thousands of tourists going every year, it's just very sad to see that.
09:30So yeah, it's just very sad really.
09:33And was this reported to the police? Do you feel like if the police were notified they would care and do something about it?
09:40Well, we have park wardens in Shrewsbury. So they're a private company that wear bulletproof vests in case of people with guns, which has happened in Shrewsbury before, unfortunately.
09:54So we reported to them and they escalated to West Merseyshire Police.
09:59You mentioned bulletproof vests and that leads me to say, do you feel safe living in Shropshire with low-level crime maybe happening?
10:06Where I live I feel pretty safe, but there are certain places I wouldn't go at night that I wouldn't feel safe because of who's around dealing drugs, unfortunately, in the early hours of the morning sort of thing.
10:18So if you were to notify the police of something like this happening, do you feel like enough would be done to maybe dissolve the issue?
10:25I think the police do take a note of it, but whether they actually act on it is another thing.
10:32And compare maybe to the past, do you think maybe low-level crime is on the rise or do you think it's decreased?
10:38I think low-level crime is on the rise. You know, I used to work in Wellington Market here and we used to see about 30 thefts a week.
10:45The police used to come to the market every week, West Merseyshire Police, so I'm used to seeing this level of shoplifting, low-level crime.
10:55It's just very sad, really. It didn't used to be like this.
10:58Thanks very much for your time.
10:59Thank you, guys.