Support for drink and drug addicts
YOUNG people drinking alcohol on the streets of Bishop Auckland and the families of drug addicts will be given more support under plans announced recently.
A youth worker will soon be employed in the town to meet and befriend gangs of youths drinking in the town with the aim of eventually educating them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
Another guidance counsellor will also soon start in the town helping the families of drug addicts rehabilitate their addicted loved ones.
Although the schemes will aid the local police in tackling alcohol and drug-fuelled anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood Inspector Martin Peace insisted both roles would be completely independent of the police.
Insp Peace, who revealed the £71,000 scheme at Bishop Auckland Shildon Area Action Partnership meeting last month, said officers were already seeing results from their on-going campaign against anti-social behaviour but more needed to be done to prevent people falling prey to drugs and alcohol in the first place.
He said: “I am pleased with the way things are going but we still haven’t taken away the demand for alcohol.
We need to address young people more directly, such as at school, or out on the streets where they hang out.
“The youth worker will not be working for the police.
“They will not give us the names of the people they speak to nor will they reveal the conversation they are having with the young people.
“The only information we will get is how many people they are speaking to but individual details will remain absolutely confidential.
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That way the young people can have absolute trust and confidence in the worker and will therefore be more receptive to the help being offered to them.
“As for the Addictions Liberty family worker, we know that a key part in helping any recovering addict is family support but where is the support for the family? The worker will help families deal with what can be a very traumatic period for the benefit of both the addict and their loved ones.”
The two workers will also be joined by an alcohol outreach worker who will work with young people referred to her by the police.
Last week, current worker Emily Pearson organised a successful alcohol-free club night for teenagers at the Q Club in Bishop Auckland.
According to figures from the North West Public Health Observatory, Wear Valley has the fourth highest number of alcohol related violent crimes per 1,000 people in the North East.
The district is also third highest for the number of under-18s being admitted to hospital due to alcohol specific conditions.
Police have already started a long campaign to tackle the issue.
During the summer, officers started a taxi marshalls service, introduced plastic cups into pubs and clubs and used injured officers to monitor CCTV cameras. Insp Peace said: “I am delighted with the taxi marshalls, our county councillors have found us some more money meaning they can keep going until March.
“It used to be that we had 200 people waiting for taxis and we had 15 officers truing to manage them into a queue.
“Now with two taxi marshalls the queue is always being controlled and we have seen a huge drop in problems there.
“We have also used injured officers to monitor the CCTV cameras and that worked really well because they could direct officers to intercept fights even before the fighting had started.”
Officers have also mounted targeted patrols in traditional hot spots such as the market place and have also carried out 28 test purchases on pubs and off-licences and punished those caught selling alcohol to minors.
Since July, 35 young people caught drinking alcohol have also opted to see the alcohol referral worker and officers are currently reviewing the licences of two Bishop Auckland licensees.