ON SATURDAY afternoon, Essex Police hosted a community meeting in Harlow. The hastily arranged meeting had less than 30 members of the public.

The press release that followed is below.

You may want to cast your minds back to 2014, when Assistant Chief Constable Julia Wortley informed all councils that Essex Police would not be attending incidents of anti-social behaviour that were graded medium or low risk. It was reckoned that, consequently, Essex Police would not be attending 97% of all calls re anti-social behaviour.

When one cuts through all the speeches and visits by high ranking police officers, it still leaves a very large question: “Will Harlow have more police officers and will you increase your commitment to attending incidents of crime aka anti-social behaviour?”

We will leave it to you to decide if the statement below is a yes or a no…

Chief Superintendent Sean O’Callaghan said: “It was a positive meeting and I’d like to thank residents for taking the time to attend and speak to us about their concerns and experiences from across the town.

“We heard from members of the public about their experiences of anti-social behaviour and hate crime, and I spoke to a number of residents individually after the meeting about their specific concerns.

“I want to reassure the community that we do take these matters seriously and are committed to tackling the problems you have been facing.

“As part of this, we will be continuing our work with Harlow Council and other partners to tackle the wider issues of anti-social behaviour. I understand some residents may be reluctant to report incidents but I would ask them to please tell us or the council, because the information you provide is vital and we cannot deal with problems unless we know about them.

“We assess all reports of anti-social behaviour and base our response in each case on the level of threat, risk and harm it presents. We will attend where victims are vulnerable or have been subject to repeated problems or harassment.

“There may be cases that do not necessarily require a police presence or where other agencies have a responsibility. However, we will still use the information you provide to build up a picture of any recurring issues so that we can target our patrols and find the best way to tackle the problem.

“Essex Police does not tolerate hate crime and it is important to let us know about any incidents so that we can do our best to help you. Letting us know gives us a chance to investigate, prosecute offenders and ensure you and your community are protected.”