Q.
Why do we (local authorities/housing associations) have to
pay you for something the police ought to be doing?
A.
We get asked this a lot, usually when the police are not there.
The fact is that nuisance may not be a crime or that the antisocial
behaviour is not sufficient enough to warrant police involvement.
More probably it will be that the police may not have the
resources i.e. staff, overtime or the equipment and skills
at divisional levels, to do what we do. If you involve the
police in the planning stage however, we generally find that
if, during, or after the operation, police involvement is
required, it is more often than not forthcoming. We are well
thought of by the police and they will and do act on our intelligence/evidence,
in some cases using our tapes directly in interview.