ANTI-social behaviour in Simmons Park has been causing controversy in recent weeks, with play equipment being vandalised and park staff reporting feeling intimidated by young people.

Okehampton Town Council has now erected a CCTV camera in the play park, the recent scene of sabotage of the equipment, in a bid to deter incidents. The town council is also calling for more police on the beat.

Okehampton Times reporter Sarah Pitt put some questions to West Devon neighbourhood team leader, Sgt Nathan Walker about what he and his officers are doing to address problems.

How often are you able to patrol the park? Which times do you choose and why?

At present we recognise that there is an increased interest in the use of the park and the behaviour of young people while they are there. As a result we have created a tasking plan which aims to prevent crime and reassure people using the Simmons Park throughout the day. We are specifically targeting times during the afternoon following increased reports during this period.

This is a whole team effort for the West Devon policing team, all of the teams including my own neighbourhood team in Tavistock and Okehampton are briefed every day on the issues that are reported and we are all working together to address this challenge. You will see us in the park discussing the issue with park users and encouraging people to report their experiences, you will also see us talking to the young people. As part of our response to this challenge we are working closely with Okehampton College, the local Space youth service team, our own youth intervention officer and the youth offending team in an effort to provide lasting solutions that help young people recover from their poor decisions and prosper as adults.

Okehampton Town Council are asking for more police on the streets in Okehampton. Do you feel you are short-staffed at present, and would that help you at all?

The staffing of our beautiful county is carefully considered by Devon and Cornwall Police and there are many factors that influence the decisions that are made. At present West Devon is proportionately staffed for the demand on our service and I am pleased to say that we have a very positive and proactive team but I am aware that numbers of police is a very emotive subject. I am really encouraged by the teams’ approach to the all of the challenges we face as an organisation. It is important that we remember and focus on the pressures faced in specific areas of the community but as a policing team we also need to take a broader view of the difficulties faced across a broad range of issues. We work really hard to do this and when specific challenges are identified we take action and seek support from other teams to help. At the moment the Okehampton neighbourhood team are focusing on the park and the anti-social behaviour because the public report this to be a significant challenge.

Have you seen the problems get worse in the park over the past year, and in what way?

Based on the information on our systems the evidence suggests a decrease in reports of incidents in the park area. There has been an increase in the concern expressed by the residents of Okehampton and reports of these concerns from local representatives. As a result of these concerns we have been in the park talking to people, working on encouraging them to report their concerns on the 101 phone number or by using the online reporting tools available on our website. Every piece of information we receive can be used to help us target our resources.

There was a recent incident when the zipwire for the older children in the park was sabotaged. Are you following up any leads on that?

We have received a report of damage caused to the play equipment in Simmons Park but due to a lack of evidence we have been unable to identify a suspect for this offence. Whilst I realise this result is disappointing, the information provided by the report will allow us to target the area and helps inform our work as we attempt to address this challenging behaviour. I am aware that since this report a camera which covers the play park has been installed which may provide us with evidence in the future should this happen again. If anyone has any information they would like to share please contact us and quote the crime number CR/066417/20