Dawlish Discussion

The town council's finance committee has agreed to fund the church-based scheme to the tune of £2,000.

The idea is to cut crime and protect vulnerable people in the resort at night.

Exeter, Newton Abbot, Totnes and Torquay already have similar ventures up and running.

The Dawlish scheme could be in place by early summer. Uniform-wearing volunteers would be trained to offer help to those in need and have a positive effect on the late night atmosphere of the resort.

It's hoped the scheme will reduce some of the problems experienced by local residents late at night and protect people not always in a fit state to make good choices about their conduct.

Source: Dawlish Post

A great idea and one I wish them the best with, but it's dangerous enough for the police working during the night hours. Situations can get out of hand very quickly when dealing with people on drinks, drugs, mental issues etc. Do they have support/communications with the local police?

Yes the volunteers will have support and back up from a range of sources. Members of the F&GP committee asked very searching questions about the support the volunteers would get. 

says a lot for the £80.000 spent on CCTV

@User 4549 - i heard rumours that the system in dawlish had been switched off and not monitored for sometime due to cost!. at least we have the police station next to the lawn that must mean an instant response from law enforcement and diswayed all those of criminal intentions!!! yeh, i won't hold my breath on that one. 

A fortune being spent on the Dawlish Town center development, but little money to maintain the essentials that make everyone's daily lives more comfortable. I expect the council will want the people of Dawlish to pay rates!! Oh, I forgot we already do !

Just to to say, the CCTV system in Dawlish is not switched off, and the police are still using it.

Has the CCTV ever been effective in actually assisting the police with a successful prosecution?  From what I hear it doesn't work after dark.

Burnside.  the CCtv has not caught one person in the years its been in operation. a few years ago when speaking to PC Parsons (rertired) he showed me a letter he had written to the operators in Newton Abbot asking them when they went home to leave cameras in a positive position as the one opporsite the supermarket was left on ok, but was recording the sign in the middle of the road, they record 24 hours a day but do not pan automatically.