Don't Cop Out of Community Policing, Says Newton
East Belfast DUP Councillor and MLA Robin Newton has expressed his alarm as the PSNI consult on the future of the Willowfield and Mountpottinger police stations.
Robin Newton said, "As Chairman of the Belfast District Policing Partnership I have had extensive contact with East Belfast residents and I have listened to their fears and anxieties about the law and order situation. That the PSNI are again consulting on the potential closure of these two stations will greatly worry those inner city residents who have been a victim or are living in fear of being a victim of crime.
"There can be no doubt that residents feel much safer when they live in close proximity to a police station and there is a comfort factor in seeing local police on the beat. Closing these community based stations will add to the concerns of residents, especially the many elderly who live alone.
"Certainly in the case of Willowfield station many residents know the neighbourhood police by name and have confidence in this personal contact. And how can it be a helpful step to remove the police presence from the nationalist Short Strand at this time?
"Every week I am contacted by constituents who are suffering form youths behaving badly, adolescents who are engaged in anti-social behaviour. Generally speaking contact with the local police can sort out these matters. The closure of the two stations will impact on this type of neighbourhood policing activity and it is the long suffering law abiding public who will again be disadvantaged.
"This public consultation is about to get underway and as an elected representative I am calling on all those who feel strongly about law and order to write to Strandtown PSNI station expressing concerns about the possible shutting down of Willowfield and Mountpottinger stations."
