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February 1, 2007
Tackling mindless vandalism
Our weekly review meeting of this week's Gazette produced some interesting debate.
Most pressing point was a contingency plan to deal with the failure of our 'new reporting recruit' to turn up - leaving a big hole in our newsdesk resources over the coming weeks.
It looks like a last minute transfer deadline 'loan deal' with our sister title in Harrow may have saved the day in the short term, as we go through the interview process all over again for a new reporter.
Considerable time was spent looking at the issues that seem to really affecting people in the borough and how we can tackle these through the pages of the Gazette.
Graffiti and wanton vandalism on buses is a constant complaint we receive and this now seems to be escalating into threatening behaviour and a general uneasiness amongst some users about their general safety on certain routes across the borough.
We regularly print CCTV pictures of youths the police want to talk to about acts of graffiti and vandalism on buses. This has proved a highly effective way of catching these mindless people and has resulted in a number of prosecutions.
However, it still does not deter what seems to be an escalating crime. The damage done to buses costs about £8m a year and many of the offenders think they are faceless and can avoid justice.
We will be stepping up our efforts to ensure this is not the case and that people can safely travel across the borough and that buses are not defaced by mindless acts of pure vandalism.
Posted by aseal at February 1, 2007 11:41 AM