POLICE have formed an action plan to curb youth- related anti-social behaviour during the school summer break – and they are urging all parents to back them. 'Know where you child is' is the message that police around Caradon will be inducing into local parents as the schools' six-week break kicks in. Police have moved to stamp out any signs of disruptive behaviour this summer after previous years have shown a 'significant increase' in reported incidents during the holiday period. And, while police have stated that they will be increasing patrols around Caradon, they have also called on local parents to help in the bid to prevent youth crime. Dave Shepherd, crime reduction officer for Caradon, said that while police officers will be doing everything they can to ensure that anti-social behaviour is kept to a minimum, parents must take some responsibility. 'It is very important for parents to know where their children are,' said Mr Shepherd. 'We are trying to encourage parents to lay down some ground rules for their children in order to alleviate the number of reports we get in at this time of year. 'As a parent myself, I would be concerned about where my children were and what they were doing.' Police have suggested that designated 'home times' are established between households so that parents are more able to track where their children are. 'We know that in the summer holidays, children are able to stay out later, but in this age where many children have mobile phones, there is never a reason for not keeping in touch with parents,' said Mr Shepherd. In a dovetailed approach to the situation, police will be increasing their patrols throughout Caradon, which will see members of the Special Constabulary and the local police community support officers deployed to help curb any potential disturbance. While police have yet to identify any specific 'problem areas', they will be focussing their attention on town centres where youths tend to congregate. With many schools breaking up for a six-week summer break within the next seven days, police are hoping that increased patrols will also help to keep local youths safe, as well as temper anti-social behaviour such as under-age drinking, vandalism and substance abuse. 'Our message to children is to be safe and sensible,' said Mr Shepherd, who has also warned that private premises, such as schools and building sites, are out-of-bounds. 'There is nothing wrong with youngsters being in groups as long as they are not being intimidating. 'Very few children cause problems, many are fine, but there are just some that can cause a nuisance and it is these that we will be focusing on.'
