Anti-social Behaviour in Eynsford
9th June 2020
On Friday Chair of the Parish Council Phil Ward took part in a video call with various people to discuss the recent issues of anti-social behaviour and the tragic incident at Lullingstone.
On the call were Laura Trott MP, representatives of Kent Police, Kelly Webb (Sevenoaks District Council), Roger Gough our Kent County Councillor and Alan Cheesman our District Councillor.
On the Lullingstone incident, the police are still trying to identify two young male suspects. Their main focus is on CCTV, ANPR and other cameras which were active in the area at the time. It is taking some time to go through all the material of which there is quite a lot. They have also done a mail-drop to local residents for more information. There is currently no evidence indicating the suspects come from any particular area or social grouping. If you have any related information please do contact the police asap.
With regards to the anti-social behaviour, we talked about police deployments and the use of CCTV. The police seem well aware of the type of issues being experienced and have committed to a continued increase in police presence for the next few weeks. They are deploying officers with instructions to engage with the public as part of their patrols.
The Parish Council is arranging for new signage at Riverside to make our message on expected behaviour much clearer.
Regarding CCTV, SDC have a number of systems that can be deployed on a temporary basis across the district to tackle anti-social behaviour. Community funding is a key requirement for implementation with a strong case, supported by reported crime figures. Eynsford is currently far down the list when comparing crime to other areas.
Alan Cheeseman is investigating a private CCTV solution and more information will be made available at a later date.
The message from Kent Police was clear, report all incidents to help build a case for increased policing and public CCTV for Eynsford.
Please bear with us, we are all working together and doing our best to resolve these issues.
