The police have come under fire for failing to respond appropriately to parents’ concerns over teenagers running riot and attacking children as young as 11 in a Lancashire town.
Chorley police released a statement on Thursday following a BBC News programme aired on Wednesday evening, which delved into the problems around anti-social behaviour caused by a group of youths in the town.
The BBC’s investigation, conducted over several months, looked at one group of teens in particular who have allegedly been responsible for a number of vicious attacks on girls and boys in Chorley.
According to the report, children have been set upon by the group, who would film their attacks on a mobile phone and then share the footage over social media to further embarrass their victims – an act known as ‘patterning’.
A group of mothers from Chorley, who are fed up with the alleged lack of action by police spoke to the BBC about how they ‘waited too long’ for officers to investigate, and as a result have been forced to take matters into their own hands.
In response to the BBC News programme, a spokesperson for Chorley police said on Thursday: “We're sure many of you have seen the BBC News report from Wednesday 31 August on assaults involving children and anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Chorley.
“We want to provide further information and context for our communities. Rest assured that we do not tolerate this behaviour and you will see more officers out over the weekend tackling ASB.
“No young person, or their parents, should be subjected to horrific attacks like those shown in the broadcast or have to deal with the aftermath and impact.”
Chief Superintendent Eddie Newton, Area Commander for South Division, said: “I am sickened and appalled by the incidents and the behaviour of the young people shown on the news report, particularly the filming of children being attacked and the sharing of that footage on social media.
“The young people who committed these crimes should be ashamed of their actions, and their parents/guardians should be having some frank and difficult conversations with them.
“I don’t underestimate the impact that this has had on the victims and their families. We have done a significant amount to both support them and to keep them updated and have been in constant dialogue with them over recent months.
“I also fully understand the anger felt by the wider community across Chorley, Lancashire and beyond and it is therefore vital that we set out both what we have done in relation to the incidents shown and also the wider work we are committed to tackling anti-social behaviour.
“These assaults happened over a number of months, with the last being reported to us in April of this year.
“We have thoroughly investigated all the reports and every single young person responsible has been identified, interviewed under caution and has either been dealt with, or are in the process of being dealt with, in line with national guidance on dealing with juveniles.
“The outcomes for each of the offenders is determined by the Youth Offender Panel, following our investigation.
“Of the nine offenders in total, five have received youth cautions and four are still having their cases considered by the Panel.
“I know many people feel dissatisfied with these outcomes, but we work within the confines of government guidelines through the Ministry of Justice and the Youth Justice Board.
“The presumption is that children and young people will not be arrested and will instead be dealt with in a manner to divert them away from entering the justice system.”
The police said they take all reports of assault and anti-social behaviour extremely seriously and when people call them in an emergency, will always be there to answer the phone and to send officers as soon as they possibly can.
The spokesperson continued: “We believe all calls in relation to these incidents have been dealt with appropriately, but we understand some parents are still unhappy with our response and it is therefore right that we re-look at everything we have done, and we will make sure that we keep all the victims and their families informed and any lessons for us are learned.
“We also look at all the incidents of ASB reported to us across the county and make sure we have a local pro-active, operational response in place where it is required.”
Chief Superintendent Newton added: “In Chorley, we have been running proactive operations across the summer months to respond to local concerns.
“I also want to take this opportunity to reassure people that we will be looking at our policing plans again in the light of this and that we will do everything in our power to show local communities that we are tackling ASB effectively.”
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