Police view of Square

Press, 2 May 1985, Page 1

Police view of Square

The Christchurch police have no plans to increase their numbers in Cathedral Square, in spite of incidents such as a brawl between gang members and the police on Monday. “We must police the Square to the extent that we can reasonably keep order,” said the Christchurch police chief, deputy Assistant Commissioner George Twentyman. The Square, however, was a big place and the police could not be in every corner at once. Asked whether the police planned swoops on the Square to apprehend trouble-makers, Mr Twentyman said that he did not think it was necessary at present. “Even-handed” policing of the area would continue, he said. Mr Twentyman felt that the brawl on Monday afternoon was a “one-off” incident and could have easily happened somewhere else, such as in a hotel. Cathedral Square had always been a difficult spot, even last century, he said. It was a place where many young people met. He said that he felt a “little apprehensive” about the setting up of a youth centre in the Cinerama building, in Worcester Street, planned to start soon. He believed that young people would meet there and “high jinks” would come later. “I would prefer to see these centres in the suburbs,” he said. Asked about the call from Christchurch City council-

lors for a clean-up of the Square, Mr Twentyman said he thought their comments were directed at the fastfood shops there. Some Christchurch police are unhappy about the time it took for reinforcements to arrive in the Square during the brawl on Monday.

They say that some police cars are not fitted with sirens and as a result were held up in traffic on the way to the Square. Mr Twentyman said that the police aimed to have sirens on all front-line cars. Some cars, however, did not have them.