UK, Ireland /
THE POLES OF CHESTER, DRINKING & CRIME [5]
FYI FROM, THE CHESTER CHRONICLE:
In his last interview as chief constable of Cheshire before taking
command of the Greater Manchester force last Monday Peter Fahy talked
to MARC WADDINGTON about the challenges of policing the county. Peter Fahy, chief constable of Cheshire strongly condemns the availability of cheap booze.
"Statistics say crime is falling but it takes a long time for people
to feel safer. A lot of that feeling of insecurity comes from seeing
groups of young people who have been drinking and making a nuisance.
He says he knows that not everyone agreed with some of his strong
suggestions how to combat the scourge, but that progress is being made.
"Some of the things I said at the time like raising the drinking age
to 21, well, in Scotland now they're thinking about implementing that.
"The Government has made recent announcements about its concerns
about the prices of supermarket promotions on alcohol, but it has
been frustrating how long that's taken.
Another challenge which Cheshire Police has faced in Mr Fahy's five-
and-a-half years at the helm is that of forging links with the area's
Polish community. An estimated 6,000 Poles have flocked in that time
to Crewe alone, lured by the prospect of work and better wages than
in their native land.
Mr Fahy, who is the Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO's)
spokesman on race and diversity issues, says policing the small
minority of the Polish community in Crewe who are criminals has been
one of the tasks which not every police force has to contend with.
"The Polish situation was one of the challenges, but neighbourhood
police officers can see how that population is changing, can get in
there and advise them about the customs of this country.
"There were some initial tensions and it was a small minority that
were involved in crime. There were some who were trying to exploit
the drugs market, but we've got a firm grip on that now.
