Police out in force on Cowley Road (From The Oxford Times)

Police out in force on Cowley Road

9:22am Monday 8th October 2007

• Print
• Email
• Share

POLICE officers have been out in force in East Oxford in a crackdown on drink-fuelled crime and to "set the tone" for new students moving into the area.

Operation Bratwurst was launched on Thursday and will be running again next weekend.

Insp Brian Cooper, area commander for East Oxford, said finances made it impossible to have such a high-profile presence every weekend.

He said the officers were not out to stop people having a good time, but to make sure high spirits did not get out of hand.

He said: "If people are drunk but able to get themselves home and stagger down the street, that's fine - we are not going to be enforcing being drunk in a public place.

"What we will be looking at is when people start to get rowdy, when their behaviour starts affecting everyone else.

"We want to make sure high jinks do not go on from that to become fights."

On Friday police made one arrest for possession of class A drugs, three were warned for cannabis possession, one reported for drug possession and 37 revellers were stopped and searched.

The following evening police arrested two people for public order offences and possession of an offensive weapon.

Four more were arrested for assault.

Controversial plans for CCTV along Cowley Road are currently being discussed - and Insp Cooper said cameras would make policing the busy road much easier.

He said: "Because of the resource implications we cannot have police officers here every single evening.

"CCTV gives us the eyes linked directly to the city centre. It would give us early warning of a problem developing and it would give us recorded evidence.

"It would be an enormous boon to controlling anti-social behaviour."

Students out on the streets on Thursday had a mixed reaction to the increased police presence and CCTV plans.

Emma James, 24, of Bullingdon Road, said: "I don't know if it is really that necessary to have that many in such a short space of time.

"It depends really where the rest of the force are - if they are all on the Cowley Road it's a bit silly."

James Ayers, 22, of Headington, said: "I think they should concentrate more on this kind of thing than on motorists.

"If they are on the street looking after people I think it is a good thing and there should be more."

Oxford Brookes fresher student Kirsty Owen said: "I would feel a bit safer having them here. I would definitely be in favour of CCTV because you feel a bit vulnerable sometimes."

And fellow fresher Leo West, 18, was also in favour of CCTV. He said: "Only thieves would complain."

Norwegian student Haavard Helle, 24, said officers on the streets was a far better deterrent than cameras.

He said: "In my home town there are a lot of cameras, but that does not work at all. But when you have lots of people on the streets that are visible, that makes a difference."

• Print
• Email
• Share