COMMUNITY cops and a city centre-style CCTV system are the latest weapons in the war on gun crime in south Manchester.
Nine extra police community support officers have been put on patrol in Moss Side and Hulme.
And 23 cameras - monitored around the clock - will be installed around Moss Side, Whalley Range and Old Trafford in response to requests from people in the area.
A fresh wave of gun crime hit the area at the weekend, with a shooting in Moss Side near the Powerhouse youth centre on Friday night and two in Longsight in the early hours of Saturday.
One of the cameras will be on Upper Chorlton Road, close to where a man in his twenties was shot in a leg earlier this month.
Another will be installed on Broadfield Road, a stone's throw from where 15-year-old Jessie James was murdered last September. The cameras are small, difficult to spot and will be monitored 24 hours a day.
Announcing the measures at Moss Side's West Indian Sports and Social Club, Supt John O'Hare said he was encouraging PCSOs and regular officers to mingle with the community at popular meeting places like the club and the Powerhouse youth centre.
He admitted that when the PCSO scheme was first introduced he thought it would not work. But he had come to realise it was `absolutely essential to local policing'.
Murder
Supt O'Hare said that since the murder of Jessie James patrols had been stepped up around Broadfield Park and Alexandra Park.
He also said attitudes were changing towards clusters of youths hanging around streets.
"We realise a reason why a lot of them hang around is safety in numbers. We recognise they are potential victims as well," he said.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police added: "These new cameras will help to prevent crime, provide reassurance for the local community and provide extra support for police operations."
Moss Side councillor Alistair Cox welcomed the CCTV boost. He said: "We have had four public meetings to date on gun crime and people identified CCTV as a way of making the streets safer.
"Most importantly, we have an increased police presence on the ground. PCSOs have a real `eyes and ears' role to play."
In the latest Manchester shootings an 18-year-old was shot in the back in Raby Street, Moss Side, on Friday night. The attack was just yards from where Jessie James was murdered.
The shots are thought to have come from one or two cars which pulled up outside the Powerhouse youth centre.
Five hours later in Stockport Road, Longsight, a 19-year-old suffered an arm injury and a 27-year-old was hit in the back as they sat in a car at traffic lights.
Comments
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Why waste money on run down areas for, they're full of no good scum of the earth that wants to get shot, so shoot them please
ace riley, you are a pathetic excuse for a human being.
you wally head
Hey great idea Ace! Shoot the lot of them! Never mind any familes, elderly people etc that live in the area and who do not participate in the "gun culture". Your comments are frightening.
yep shoot the lot ace, that can be your contribution to society ,even if you were to carry out such a thing the world would still cock a deaf un,
That's really helpful "Ace", well done... nice one! I like to read the comments on stories like these as they usually left by readers with an IQ higher than a dust mite. Quite clearly this is not the case with "Ace"
how can the MEN justify printing ace riley's comments? he should be banned from this website.
kev - because we live in a country of free speech and everyone has a right to an opinion, whether the majority agree or not.
Personally, I don't beleive 9 extra Community Support Officers (pretend policemen) will make a slight difference to Moss Side and Longsight. Discipline starts at home. Fail there and it's guns and the streets.
so, Mrs D, are you saying you agree with what ace has posted? if thats the case then you're as sad as him.
There are 2 things that scare criminals - 1. an increase in the chances of them getting caught and 2. long hard sentences when they do. More CCTV camera's might help identify more crimials and more community police may well help tp build relationships with the local community BUT the trouble is with this scheme is that the young criminals are not scared of being caught. They have to commit numerous crimes before they are sent to prison and even then they get a short sentence and are they let out on parole half way through. If you combined this scheme with a minimum 20 year sentence for carrying a fire arm (with no parole) then it may have an impact. As was mentioned on a similar story by a number of Moss Side residents - alot of the thugs actually like being in Prison because they have no stress, 3 meals a day, a roof over their head, a tv, a gym and a games room and they can mix with many of their mates. Prison has become quite a pleasent option compared to life on the streets. Until this issue is addresses schemes like this will continue to fail because there is no deterent !!
Ace: There are a lot of nice people that live in these areas what about Jessie James he didnt deserve to die did he, He wasnt scum and nither is his family!!!
Why shouldnt these run down areas get help I would rather the tax I pay be spent in helping my own town instead of going to another country!!!
U should think before you type in future
Not at all Kev. If I agreed with him, I would say so ! But it would be a worse place if we banned people from opinions wouldn't it ? This is what makes forums interesting, purely to see what everyone thinks, whether we like it or not.
fair enough, Mrs D. apologies for being presumptuous. i still think he should apologise for making such downright offensive comments.
It does get me thinking though. These kids were all "innocent angels" apparently who never put a foot out of line. Innocent Angels do not have police tags round their ankles or unexplained HUGE amounts of cash in their bank accounts, as has been well documented regarding the two latest shootings we have heard about.
ace riley with his very constructive comments again ive been off here for ages and you still at it
If you don't put the bad apples behind bars then kids see them as something to emulate and join them in a gang. In my view prison works and sentences should be long. It would save all the costs these people cause on the outside which is far more than a prison place, and lets everyone else get on with life. The liberals and intellectuals keep going on about prison not working but Rudolph Giulliani transformd New York with tough sentencing and zero tolerance policing, now it is much safer than London.
Maybe if there was some sort of scheme to get the bored teenagers who see no hope in life a new meaning. They could be given the oppurtunity to help rebuild their neighbourhoods, with promises of rewards if they do so. Not saying the idea is perfect, but it will surely give them a sense of meaning, rather than just the need to join a gang and quickly reduce their life-span.