RECENT trouble in Downpatrick town centre will top the agenda at a special meeting next month.
Concern over a number of incidents and police response times were recently debated by members of the Downpatrick District Electoral Area Forum who are keen for face-to-face talks with the PSNI.
Members of the local police’s community engagement team are to be invited to the February meeting of the DEA to look at how the issues of concern can be addressed.
In addition, the recent trouble will also be raised at the next meeting of the Policing and Community Safety Partnership’s anti-social behaviour sub-group meeting.
On New Year’s Eve, a young shop assistant escaped serious injury when she was showered with broken glass while working at a shop in Downpatrick.
The teenager was working at Murphy’s Stores in Fountain Street when a bottle was thrown at a rear window of the premises, showering the young girl in sharp fragments of glass.
The attack left the young girl traumatised with the owners of the store forced to close early, with the incident coming after rampaging youths in gangs of up to 20 caused havoc in the Thomas Russell Park and St Patrick’s Drive areas in Downpatrick on December 27.
It is understood the group made its way from the Flying Horse and Model Farm areas before congregating in Market Street and making their way to Thomas Russell Park and St Patrick’s Drive.
Downpatrick councillors, residents and members of the business community say they have had enough of the troublemakers and want them dealt with by the authorities.
They insist that the trouble must stop and that the time has come to stand up to unruly teenagers who get nothing more than a talking to for the terror they are inflicting on others.
Politicians want to work with police and representatives from other statutory authorities to tackle the issue, with many believing that a co-ordinated approach could prove fruitful.
However, a number of town centre traders insist that responsibility for law and order rests solely with police who must deal with the issue.
Traders are concerned that if left unchecked and unchallenged, anti-social behaviour could have serious repercussions and want parents of children involved in trouble to urge them to stop.
They argue that parents must warn their children of the dangers of getting involved in incidents which could land them with a criminal record.
Downpatrick councillor, Dermot Curran, said unruly behaviour does nothing to enhance the image of the town.
He added: “I welcome the invitation to police to attend next month’s DEA meeting and hope that something positive will come from it. Residents and those in the business community should not have to put up with the the behaviour witnessed recently.”