Kent Police arrest park benches

The parks of leafy Stanhope in Ashford, Kent have seen their public benches uprooted and carted away by the police in the name of fighting crime and anti-social behaviour.

Officers from the ‘Problem-Solving Taskforce’ decided that five benches were providing ‘places to gather’ and in the name of designing out crime, they had to go. In addition, they removed some bushes which were also guilty of ‘encouraging illegal activities’.

In a Tweet that was subsequently deleted the force said that it was working with local businesses to design out crime. Although the action came in for a certain amount of ridicule on social media, some residents were very supportive saying the benches were used for smoking cannabis.

Chief Inspector Nick Sparkes said that the action was part of a three-month trial to monitor the effect on anti-social behaviour in the area.

The little-known official police security initiative called Secured by Design, under the auspices of the National Police Chiefs Council, is an influential tool that police forces use to improve the security of buildings and their immediate surroundings. It holds particular sway in local authority planning applications for new developments or alteration of existing buildings and can significantly alter developments at, or after, the planning stage. A prospective housing estate in Dorset for instance was realigned at the request of the police so that it didn’t overlook a local park because, if it did, it would attract ‘the wrong kind of person’.