Episode 8 Street Patrol UK

Our lives are blighted by antisocial behaviour.

-Whether it's nuisance neighbours...

-Can you let us in, please?

..graffiti on the streets or too much booze.

-England!

-Make your way away from here right now.

This is the story of the police officers...

This is the police. Are you in here?

You've been drinking a bit today, haven't you?

..council wardens...

This is antisocial behaviour, because it affects everybody.

..and local volunteers whose job it is to keep it off our streets.

Let's go do some good.

Welcome to Street Patrol UK.

Today, we meet Magda, the Met's first Polish WPC,

helping improve community relations

and putting a stop to summertime drinking in public.

He's from Poland, he doesn't speak English,

so I have used my language skills to explain to him

that there is no drinking in a public place in Hounslow.

Portsmouth parking enforcement team,

on the lookout for repeat offenders

who don't give a monkey's about paying for parking.

That vehicle clearly thinks that they can park in Portsmouth

wherever they like.

Well, today, they won't get away with it any more,

because the vehicle is going to be gone.

And we see how antisocial metal thieves are literally

stealing the roof from above our children's heads.

Nobody should target anybody, but to target a school,

where pupils' education is affected is disgraceful.

When it comes to metal theft, the criminal gangs that go round

stripping our churches and schools of their roofs,

stealing cables, railings and valuable monuments seem to have

no conscience as to the effect is has on the community as a whole.

Their criminal enterprise is driven by profit,

but the people who are paying the real price are you and me,

in damaged property and disrupted services.

Just take a look at this.

They say, "Where there's muck there's brass"

and for many thieves and criminals gangs across the UK,

this couldn't be truer,

because scrap metal can be sold on for serious cash,

making many of our community buildings easy targets

for thieves, who, depending on the metal,

can get up to a grand a tonne for their antisocial loot.

It's a problem Alison Ward,

head teacher of Blackwood Comprehensive School and College

in Caerphilly, has had to face first-hand.

Over the weekend, somebody had actually stripped our copper roof

off the building behind me, and taken about two thirds of it away,

leaving the roof open to the elements.

They actually took the whole skin off and all that was left, was sort of

like ragged edges where it has been obviously ripped off in a rush.

The theft cost the school and local education authority a princely sum.

Originally, we were given a quote of £50,000,

and then through negotiation with building companies

we managed to lower that to just under £30,000.

But the cost in upheaval and disruption to the pupils

in the school far outweighs the financial cost -

it took them seven months to get it sorted.

It was a huge impact on the school.

We don't actually have many spare rooms and to take three rooms

and an office out of action, nobody should target anybody, but to target

a school where pupils' education is affected is disgraceful.

Scrap-metal theft is estimated to be costing the UK £220 million a year.

So, South Wales and Gwent Police have set up a task force to focus on

this antisocial crime. It's called Operation Tornado.

This operation is mainly focusing on scrap metal in the area,

rogue traders...

The British Transport Police, HM Revenue and Customs,

and the Vehicle and Operation Standards Agency have joined forces

to target metal thefts and the illegal sale of scrap.

That's my plan of action today.

We'll get started, so, thanks very much for your time.

PC Gavin Jones's role as part of this inter-agency initiative

is to pull over suspect scrappies on the road,

to break the link in the criminal supply chain.

It is down to your sixth sense as a police officer

where you'll see a vehicle and you just have some sort of feeling

that it needs to be stopped.

Follow me, mate. Follow me.

PC Jones likes to follow his instinct.

Can I just have a quick look

to make sure there is no scrap metal in the back? Is that all right?

But he doesn't always get it right. These van owners are in the clear.

Most of those pulled over

are just people going about their daily business.

At the end of the day,

if we take somebody off the road who's committing offences

or is acting illegally, then that's what we're here to do.

So, yeah, it is a good feeling.

It's not long before a suspect vehicle appears on the horizon.

This one is definitely carrying scrap. But is it legal?

Hey, buddy, all right? I want you to follow me to the site,

and then we'll have chat. OK, cheers.

The driver follows PC Jones to a designated car park

where checks are to be carried out for possible scrap offences.

All right? What's in the back, buddy, where'd you get it from?

-Just a bit of scrap, s'all it is.

-It's all scrap metal, is it?

-Yes.

Have you got any records on you in relation to the scrap metal?

-No. No, we brought this from home.

-OK, other officers will have a chat

with you in relation to it, all right?

First things first we need to identify your scrap.

PC Jones isn't too sure. There seems to be something wrong with the load.

Most common type vehicle used and the type of load which is on here.

At this time if he can't prove any records or prove where he has

got it from, the load will be seized,

he will lose all funding on that load. At this time we have to

just do some digging and investigation

to see where he has got it from.

Further digging reveals that, although he does have a licence

to carry scrap, the police can't let him proceed -

the truck is dangerously over its safe weight limit.

His van is his life, it's his livelihood,

we're not here to take people's livelihoods away.

But it is overweight, so it makes it unsafe for the road.

It can't stop on time, cant accelerate away,

it damages the vehicle, damages the road.

So, at the moment, he's reported for summons,

so he'll go to court in a few weeks' time

hopefully for the offence.

And we take the load off to make it a safe weight

so he can drive it on the roads.

Paperwork complete, the driver can carry on,

minus a few hundred kilos of metal.

Meanwhile, PC Jones has been sent to another site where they have seized

a suspect vehicle with an illegal load.

This time their suspicions have been confirmed.

He's been confirmed as not holding a scrap licence,

scrap collector's licence.

They're not able to have the scrap

that's why it's all been seized by the police.

As it's unloaded, Gavin's search through the scrap reveals

some interesting items.

Just looking to see if there any items which are stolen at this time.

Obviously, there's a number of mountain bikes and child's bikes,

so we're just going to have a look through, to go through

the serial numbers to see if they have been recorded with us.

This one is quite hard to read, it's been stamped over

or somebody's tried to disguise what it is.

So, we'll try and run it through to see if it comes back

as a stolen chassis.

I think it's... Hotel-Romeo-Yankee-Tango

7-X-ray-4-1-9.

One search of the vehicle and the vehicles been found to be

in possession of stolen items, which is namely a motorbike.

Enquiries are ongoing at this time for a second chassis.

Once that's concluded, we then obviously prove or disprove

if that's been reported as stolen.

We'll now go and have a chat with the occupants,

here and possibly in the custody unit once they have been arrested

for the offences of theft or handling stolen goods.

It's a good result but there's more to come,

because scrap metal isn't all the police are looking for.

They're taking the opportunity to run checks on drivers' fuel.

Some try to maximise profits

by illegally using cheap red diesel in their vans.

We're here today doing an operation in regards to the scrap metal

and the scrap metal crimes.

And as part of that we're dipping all their tanks for red diesel.

I think the last time we were here we caught five people with red diesel

and they got on the spot fines of £500-plus.

Red diesel is untaxed fuel made available to farmers

at a much lower rate than at the pumps.

It's just normal diesel that has been artificially coloured

with a dye in order to show the Customs and Excise that this is fuel

for the sole use of the agricultural industry.

So, for this stuff to end up in these vans,

it's either been stolen from farms or it's been sold on by farmers

looking to make a quick quid or two.

There we are, one of these samples is for you, OK?

And it's not long before the tests turn up trumps.

We just stopped the gentleman from the haulage company

in the blue vehicle.

Having dipped his diesel tank, it was clearly running on red diesel.

As a result of that, the gentleman was formally interviewed,

imposed a levy from Revenue and Customs,

before being allowed to continue his journey.

Another likely suspect has been pulled over

because there seems to be something wrong with his white van.

As you'll see from the back of the van, it been involved

in a hefty road-traffic collision, that's the reason for the stop.

But he hasn't just got a damaged van -

it's clearly running on red diesel.

The driver claims to know nothing about it.

The police just stopped me now, dipped my tank,

said I got red diesel in there.

I don't know where it come from, innit?

I got to pay a fine, for testing.

Got to pay to get my van back - £540!

And it doesn't stop there.

The police think his van in unroadworthy.

As the van's been brought in, it's been examined by the officers.

They've done a check on the fuel within the vehicle, and the vehicle's

seen to contain red fuel, which is illegal to use on the road.

Also, the front nearside tyre on the vehicle is defective.

He's going to be dealt with for that offence

and he'll be dealt for the Customs and Excise offences as well.

Today, every vehicle that's come in has had something wrong with it.

I think today would be a success

in relation to the Gwent Police operation.

Looks like Operation Tornado has netted several suspicious

metal loads and three drivers with red diesel.

That's what you call a whirlwind success!

Later -

Portsmouth's parking enforcement team dealing with the drivers

who think they're above the law by racking up

thousands of pounds' worth of parking fines.

People don't like paying for parking and some people will go to

extreme lengths to get away from paying for parking.

For years now, dog owners have been warned about the importance

of picking up their dog poo and the health risks if they don't.

But what a lot of people don't realise is it's also a health risk

in the countryside, and not just to us humans.

Now one woman has launched a campaign to re-educate

rural dog walkers and clean up the countryside.

The Jurassic coast in Dorset

is the UK's only Natural World Heritage Site

designated for its fossils.

The National Trust owns much of the land so that they can protect

and preserve it for generations to come.

Its beauty and natural history

attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Right at the heart of all this lies Hive Beach,

where Rosemary Young, a local dog trainer, loves to take in the views.

It's a dog walker's paradise

with endless miles of beach and farmland.

One day I was walking across the footpath and the sheep

were in the field, and I had the dog on the lead as I always do

when there's stock in fields.

And I saw this sheep grazing near a dog poo

and it led me to go home and look to see

whether there's any danger in the sheep eating dog poo.

She discovered not only that dog poo can pass tapeworm to sheep,

but that cattle can be affected by a disease called Neosporosis,

caused by a parasite whose eggs can be found in dog faeces.

The general public, in fairness, doesn't really know

about this condition because it's relatively new.

Barry O'Mahony is a vet surgeon and an expert in this disease.

Dogs are the definitive hosts.

The issue is what they pass out on the pasture in their poo.

That's what can affect cows. If cows ingest those, they can abort,

and that's where the problem lies.

But the important thing to remember is that if your dog goes on pasture

that is grazed by cattle, please, pick up their poo.

Armed with the knowledge that dog poo can cause cattle to abort,

Rosemary started a campaign group to raise awareness of the issue

and she gave it a catchy and appropriate name.

Poopin!

Poo out and people in and that's what we want.

For Rosemary, Poopin has to tackle people's attitude to

walking their dogs anywhere in the countryside.

Because it's not pavements and streets, people feel that

they can let the dogs poo and leave it all over the place.

But they can't, because people want to picnic here,

they want to come and enjoy the views here

and we want our cattle and our stock to stay safe here, as well.

Poopin's volunteers, including vet Barry,

have come up with a novel way of both highlighting

and controlling the problem.

They start in a given area by counting the number of poos

that are present.

-Yes!

-OK.

And then they do something unexpected.

-Yes, again.

-OK.

We thought that if we sprayed in a bright colour

and made people notice the amount of poo that was there

and made them look at it, they might think, "Oh, my goodness gracious me."

Uh, you missed one, one here.

And sometimes it needs that to push people's minds into thinking...

-Yes.

-OK. '..I better not leave mine here.'

Right, let's do a pick-up of what we've found. Let's go.

Once they've made their marks,

they can return later to pick up the poo and count it.

Regular checks will tell whether their campaign is working.

They're helped in the task by National Trust ranger

Rowan Thompson whose beat covers this beautiful beach area.

Yes, so I'm the countryside ranger for this site,

which means I work with the public, and work with the farmers,

I'm kind of the man on the ground.

Kind of making sure everyone behaves themselves

and trying to make sure everyone has a good time, really.

And that means making sure that people's carelessness doesn't

cause distress to cattle and farmers.

And that's really where the Poopin group comes in,

to change people's behaviours, change the way people

think about the countryside, to help everyone understand the problem.

Rosemary is keen to get dog owners to face their responsibilities.

I've been a professional dog trainer for about 40 years now

and what I really have always tried is to say to people,

"If you own a dog, you've got to be responsible and pick up."

You have to own one of these if you own a dog,

and if you don't own one of these, don't own a dog.

In the nearby car park, attendant Steve Bernard tries to tackle

offending dog owners on the spot.

We get a lot of people that will let their dogs foul

and basically, they try and avoid picking it up.

We do challenge them. We have to be careful doing it.

Yes, we do get abuse from dog owners for challenging them on it.

The National Trust does provide dog bins on the site,

but some owners don't quite make it.

It helps people who want do the right thing to do the right thing,

but it doesn't really tackle the problem of people who

aren't really interested in kind of doing the right thing.

Rowan believes Poopin's hands-on approach is more effective.

'You can do these kind of passive things

'but what really works is being there on the ground'

and really speaking to people,

and being there where the problem is.

And today's count suggests the signs are encouraging.

That is 12 against 250-plus

that we had down here in January and February,

and we were getting an everage of 60 or 70 a week, weren't we?

I can tell you already that this is tremendous.

It's about one fifth of what we were picking up before,

and people are understanding that it is important

and that's the main thing.

The volunteers finish off the task with good-humoured gusto.

COW MOOS

I've always wanted to be famous for something.

I didn't think it would be for picking up dog poo.

He's certainly famous now.

And it's time for the weigh-in.

About two kilos.

Two kilos! And you did nine on the last weigh-in.

Yes! We're getting there!

Well done, everybody.

That's a good result. OK?

It's a lot less than we had before and that's progress.

It's still two kilos too much of the bad stuff.

But, if we can carry on like this, we'll get there in the end.

And vet Barry is convinced of the benefits to the local livestock.

Now even if what Rosemary and the group are doing here has even

a little impact, it will have a great effect,

it will help farmers be much happier,

it would be good if we could completely eliminate it.

But even if we just reduce it a little bit

and gradually improve it over time, that would be a great success.

It shows that people can start small campaigns

and really make a difference.

The National Trust can't sort out

these problems on its land all by itself.

We rely on local people, local dog-walkers coming forward,

being enthusiastic and wanting to help.

So, what the Poopin group are doing is absolutely fantastic

and we couldn't tackle this problem without them.

We meet the dancing policemen of Hounslow -

reaching out to the community and cracking down on drinking in public.

Sir, sir.

Right, just calm down and speak to me.

I've been out on a street patrol of my own to find out what

bothers you about Britain today.

-What's your name?

-My name's Rob.

-And who's this?

-This is Tilly, my daughter.

Lovely to meet you, Tilly.

Rob, tell me what bugs you about what people do,

antisocial behaviour!

Just generally people fouling, you know with their dogs.

If you're walking along and you see some foul on the pavement,

if you're there, they'll maybe pick it up,

if not, they'll just leave it there on the pavement.

Just total disrespect.

Just people not cleaning up after themselves, really.

Just people being a bit more courteous.

Most thing that annoys me about antisocial behaviour

is people dropping litter.

Really annoys me when you see children, especially,

dropping litter and parents allowing them to do so.

As time is going on, it is getting worse.

People seem to be so involved in their own lives,

and getting from A to B, they aren't really bothered about other people

that could be pushed out the way, along the way.

We live by a bus stop and the kids outside it are always yelling

and all that and when they come out drinking, even if

it's early hours during the week, it's just yell, yell.

Throwing bins everywhere, and just kicking everything around.

They've kicked down the bus stop a few times, like, what's the point?

I had an incident while I was driving along the road,

and a 19-year-old youth was on a bicycle coming towards me

on the wrong side of the road.

He eventually moved over to the correct side of the road,

but when I sort of said to him, "What was that all about?!"

through the window, he just replied, "Shut up!"

Parking is something we all moan about -

the cost, the lack of spaces

and of course, the rules and regulations,

but those rules are there for a reason.

Without them, it would be anarchy on the streets. Grid lock.

And if you had a disability that entitled you to a parking space,

it's hard to believe that somebody could actually rob you of it.

Portsmouth is a city of over 200,000 residents

but its proximity to the coast means it sees millions of visitors a year.

Such a bustling city needs parking controls to keep things moving.

And the Portsmouth parking enforcement team led

by Michael Robinson and Steve Hewett have got their work cut out

making sure that people park where they should

and pay for that parking.

Most people don't like paying for parking, and some people will

go to extreme lengths to get away from paying for parking.

A fundamental part of traffic management is to try

and control who parks where and for how long.

While several enforcement officers patrol the city,

those who persistently ignore the tickets they hand out

will find Michael and Steve are hot on their heels.

Today, they're after a prevalent non-payer who owes

the council for multiple tickets and fines.

The amount owing to the authority on this matter is in excess of £2,000.

Not only is that a burden on the authority,

ultimately, it's a burden on the public purse,

meaning the rate payers of Portsmouth.

And yet again, this driver hasn't paid to park.

You can see it's on a pay-and-display area at the moment.

I've had a quick look in the vehicle,

and on inspection of the vehicle, it says,

again, that they have failed to purchase a pay-and-display ticket.

So, I'm now going to call for a uniformed officer

to take enforcement action.

First, Michael and Steve check the ticket machine is working.

No excuses there, then.

I pay for my parking,

I'm sure the majority of motorists pay for theirs.

The person who's in control of this vehicle obviously has

no respect at all for the rules that apply to the rest of us,

and chooses to act outside of those rules.

Once a ticket is issued, the team has to wait for a short period

for the owner to return before they can tow the car away.

Time ticks by and it's a no-show.

I'm now going to call in our removal operative

and we're going to take the vehicle.

The car will go to the pound and the owner won't be getting it back

unless those whopping fines are paid.

But Michael can't wait around for that.

He's had a tip-off about the misuse of a blue badge,

the special parking permit for disabled drivers.

We think we've got a stolen badge in a vehicle not far from here.

So, we're going to take a closer look at that

and removing it if that's the appropriate thing to do.

There are two million blue-badge users across the UK,

giving disabled people much-needed mobility,

but there are also those who abuse this system,

fraudulently using badges they're not entitled to.

Steve is on his way to investigate.

So, obviously, if it's stolen,

A, it shouldn't be in use

and who's using it?

Who's managed to get possession of this stolen article?

Once they've identified the vehicle,

checks quickly establish that this car

does not belong to a disabled driver.

We've issued the vehicle a penalty charge notice

because the blue badge isn't valid.

The reason it's not valid is that blue badge is reported as stolen.

So, subsequently, it's not a valid blue badge

and we're going to remove the vehicle.

They need to keep watch to give the driver a chance to return.

Disabled motoring campaigner Helen Dolphin is here to

observe how the council are dealing with this offence.

Well, I presume if the genuine holder came back,

that he would be a man and he would be 85 years old,

that's the information that's on the badge.

She's passionate about eradicating abuse of the scheme.

Who would steal a badge from a disabled person?

It's just outrageous.

So, I'm quite pleased that we've got this car

and we're just waiting now for the tow truck to come and remove it.

So, for a very small amount of time,

the driver will feel what it's like to have his mobility impaired

and I'm sure, well, I hope after that

that he'll realise the error of his ways,

particularly if he ends up in court which I hope he will.

Time's up and it's a no-show.

The car is hoisted onto the tow truck.

The driver may not have appeared but someone is watching.

They were just acting very furtively.

Experience tells me that it's very likely

that they have some connection to that vehicle.

However, as the vehicle is now in our custody, I'm sure at some stage

someone will come forward as it's a vehicle of considerable value.

That's another antisocial parking offender off the street,

but Michael and the team aren't done yet.

They've been alerted to another repeat offender's

vehicle on a residential road.

Quick checks reveal massive outstanding fines.

This time, the driver owes the council £2,300 in parking fees.

There's a PCN on the back seat,

there's another one on the floor near his England flags.

Now, he's got another one on the front windscreen

which is now the latest one.

We're waiting for the tow truck and as you can see,

that vehicle is not worth £2,300 which is the debt.

But we'll get it off the road.

It's not going to get any more PCNs after today,

unless they actually do stump up the money,

which, frankly, for that car, is unlikely.

That doesn't write the debt off. We will still pursue the debt.

Michael is determined that offenders like these won't get away with it.

That vehicle clearly thinks they can park in Portsmouth,

wherever they like, whenever they like,

get a PCN that other people pay, take no notice,

chuck it on the back seat, chuck it in the bin

and think they can get away with it.

Well, today, they won't get away with it any more

because the vehicle is going to be gone.

Once the vehicle is towed, the owner will have 14 days

to pay all the outstanding penalties, plus costs,

before they can get their car back.

If they don't, Portsmouth Council will sell or scrap the vehicle.

But Michael is unrepentant about that.

From my point of view,

I justify it on the basis that they owe us money,

they haven't got the car any more.

There's another parking space, that vehicle is off the road

and I doubt will be bothering us again.

Once Michael and Steve are back at the office,

the owner of the white Mercedes arrives to claim her car.

If you hold her in reception for two minutes

before you bring her up, please.

The lady has come in, she's being interviewed under caution.

We'll ask her how is it she came into possession

of a stolen blue badge.

I can't think of a reason,

but she might have a very good reason for it.

She will then have to pay the fee, and the penalty

to get her vehicle back

and investigate with a view to prosecuting.

The owner claims that she thought the badge belonged to her boyfriend.

She's alleged that it's his responsibility.

That he told her it's his badge,

and they were able to park there, and use his badge,

because that's what it was for, for parking in disabled bays.

Young lady's now on the phone, as we speak,

and she's trying to get him to come in to assist us with our enquiries.

The boyfriend agrees to come in for questioning,

and is interviewed under caution.

He'll need to come back at a later date

and could face a heavy fine, but Helen's got no sympathy.

I don't think there's really any excuse for what they did.

They're both completely fit and able.

I'm not allowed to say. No, I'm not bothered.

Bye. Take care. Have a good day.

That's one more badge abuser thwarted.

But, for Helen, there's still a long way to go.

I would like to see much more substantial fines.

I'd like to see more authorities like Portsmouth

actually tackling this and stopping it.

Because it is a completely antisocial crime.

It's not victimless because it stops, you know,

people like myself from getting out and about.

It also stops authorities from taking in a parking revenue

which helps to pay for other services

and it's something that really should be stopped.

Antisocial behaviour,

be it intimidation, excessive noise,

fly-tipping, graffiti or vandalism.

Just not what you or I should expect to have to put up with,

but there are people all over the UK whose lives are ruined by it.

So, it's just as well there are people we can turn to.

We're on the front line

with the highly skilled teams of council workers.

-My job is to get the evidence.

-We'll find her, and she'll pay.

HE KNOCKS

-Police Officers...

-I saw you urinate on the pavement.

And volunteers who are committed to keeping our streets safe

and clean and taking on our antisocial battles,

on a daily basis, to make sure that our lives

are not blighted by other people's bad behaviour.

This is Street Patrol UK.

Let's get back to what's bothering you in Britain today.

-Graham, you look like a proud dad.

-Yup.

-Is this your first one?

-Yup.

-And how old is Katie?

-Katie's two and a half.

-Cool.

Do you think this antisocial behaviour problem

-that we have has got worse over the years?

-Definitely.

-Why?

-I think, it mainly stems from the schools.

The schools are scared.

I have a friend who's a teacher,

and they are scared of the kids.

But also, they're scared of the parents.

The parents don't back up the schools any more.

Like if a child has a mobile phone taken off them

because they're not allowed it at school,

because it's the school rules,

you get the parent turning up at the school screaming and shouting

wanting that mobile phone back. What does that teach the children?

Don't like parents screaming at their children.

That's also really, really awkward.

That I find, because you can talk to people,

you don't have to shout at them.

I always feel I'd like to intervene and go up and say,

"Excuse me, your child is standing next to you,

"you don't need to shout at them."

And they kind of ignore them as well. The children.

So, yes.

But I find that really difficult, and we can't actually say anything.

There seems to be a lot of dog-fighting about,

Up the road from us, they're training dogs to fight.

It's disgusting. It's horrible, as well. Watching them fight.

You can hear them screaming.

Our friend's cat, who I mentioned earlier,

was ripped apart by a pit bull and we had to phone the police.

The antisocial behaviour from the people that owned the dog,

-they just didn't want to know.

-They just wanted to say,

"Oh, we'll get people down from London and sort you out."

You don't want that in your neighbourhood.

We've lived there for 19 years and it used to be a good neighbourhood.

As more and more people move from other countries to the UK

and become part of the community,

it can cause problems in terms of policing.

But the Metropolitan Police have come up with some unique solutions.

Summer time and there's dancing in the park.

The weather's good and people in Hounslow are out enjoying

a council-sponsored community jamboree.

Big Dance In The Park

is a fun local multicultural event and everyone is welcome.

'Up, and change those arms and swing and up and swing and up.'

It's the kind of gathering which the Met Police like to attend...

Bob around, wherever you want.

..to put a human face on the force.

High-visibility engagement, and that's what it's all about, really,

instilling that trust in the public

so that they feel that they can approach us with any issues

they might have when normally they may not.

Being approachable to the local community

is something the Metropolitan Police take very seriously indeed.

Local policing teams are encouraged

to get down with the folk in their neighbourhood.

This kind of community event is very positive.

And there's a chance for lots of friendly interaction

across the generations.

Flashing lights, yes, absolutely.

That's the most fun part of being a police officer.

Maybe one day, you'll be able to do that, as well.

But even this kind of gathering is not immune to antisocial behaviour -

someone is threatening to spoil the party.

All we want to do is initially...

'We're dealing with reports that there is a male'

who appeared under the influence of alcohol.

That was potentially disrupting the event,

so what we've done is whilst he was on the dance floor,

we've spoken to the friends that he's with,

to provide words of advice, to see if they can assist him

to leave the park without a formal enforcement happening,

just so it doesn't disrupt the community event

which everyone is enjoying at the moment.

Pull my trousers up so I look like Keith Lemon.

Excuse me, excuse me.

That's how I look, like Keith Lemon, yeah?

Sir. Sir, calm down and speak to me.

At the moment,

your friend appears sort of quite under the influence of alcohol.

Go smoke some crack and don't...

Hounslow has been a controlled drinking zone for a year now

so alcohol-fuelled behaviour in the park is not acceptable.

What we do is we just walk behind them

to make sure they leave the park.

A light touch is needed.

They don't want to inflame a potentially tense situation.

Just keep making a move, let's not argue.

Make a move. C'mon, let's make a move.

-You lot are

-BLEEP

-idiots.

If you keep swearing in front of kids...

You guys are idiots.

I haven't sworn!

Obviously, we don't want to go in and be heavy-handed unnecessarily

and disrupt what is potentially what is meant to be a fun day.

We've advised them to go away.

He's obviously not reacted very well to that,

but still didn't think it was going to be necessary to arrest him.

With the drinker evicted,

the party people of Hounslow can go back to their big dance.

Later, in the post-party debrief,

the issue of drinking in public, as always, is on the agenda.

I spoke to Mr McCutchen.

He's obviously the chair of Friends Of Beaversfield Park.

He raised that recently.

There has been an increase in street drinkers in the park,

as is normal in the summer months,

and just requests a bit of extra presence there.

While consuming booze outside is not allowed in Hounslow,

for some residents of the borough,

this bylaw is taking some getting used to.

There is a large Polish population in the area

and for them, drinking a can of beer on the way home from work

or meeting friends in the park for a few drinks is culturally acceptable.

How's things? So you're happy today? No problems?

Working in a diverse community,

the police are aware that what is acceptable for one group of people

may be offensive to others.

That's not yours, is it?

Get rid of that.

It's down to PCs Magda Rosiak and Bobby Rudki

to try and contain the problem

by patrolling the local open spaces.

As you can see from the bin,

people are using the park for drinking,

hence the reason we do our patrols on a regular basis in the area.

Trouble is not everyone appears to be aware of the new law.

Or else, they're finding it hard to break the habit.

Communities that have settled here from Eastern Europe,

they have a social drinking background

where they drink in open spaces and the streets.

'So, they're not aware of the culture we have,

'whereas we're more drinkers at home or in a pub.'

Have you got drink in there?

So they tend to still congregate as they would back home

in open areas to drink.

You know you can't drink? It's a controlled drinking zone?

Please, don't drink here. If you do, we'll have to take it off you.

-Yes, I know.

-No problem. Brilliant, thank you.

The Met have taken the problem so seriously

they've tasked Polish PC Magda

with helping to get the message across.

It is quite difficult for Polish community to understand.

You can drink in Poland, alcohol in public places.

-We're going to play another game.

-One on one?

No, we're going to play another game called "de-canning".

Come on, give it to me.

You know it's no drinking, don't you? Why are you drinking?

How many have you got? You're not going to pull another one out?

-What's going on?

-No drinking. No drinking.

-Oh, no drinking.

That's right, guys. Sorry, guys.

It's just the first, you know...

Had drink on him and he's noticed us walking towards him

and he's put it in his pocket, as we walked up to him and told him

it's a no-drinking zone he's handed it over to us,

and we'll dispose of that. Magda will speak to him

and make him aware that it's a no-drinking zone in Polish.

THEY SPEAK IN POLISH

Most of the time, it's just a case of educating people.

They're not aware it's a no-drinking zone, so we speak to them.

And if there are no problems,

he's handed it over, it's not normally an issue.

Being Polish herself, Magda can make a connection

with her fellow countrymen

and clearly explain the local bylaw.

They just told me that they have never met

a Polish police officer before,

so they are really nice guys.

As you can see from the park,

it is used by all members of the community that live in Hounslow.

You've got Polish, Lithuanian, Asian,

so what we're trying to do

is reassure the local community that we are in the area,

we're dealing with any incidents we see,

we're taking drink off people.

So, in effect, if people are stopped drinking very early on,

there should be no more problems for the rest of the day

from those people because they've been made aware

that it is a controlled drinking zone

and it shouldn't lead to any antisocial behaviour.

By the time of next year's Big Dance In The Park,

they hope the message will have got through.

Drinking in Hounslow's public places is a no-no.

Have a lovely evening! Take care! Bye, Hounslow!

Earlier on, we were out with the Portsmouth parking enforcement team,

who were out on patrol looking for drivers

who regularly ignore parking rules and regulations,

and they've had some results.

The Peugeot and Renault drivers both admitted guilt

and faced up to paying their fines,

which totalled over four grand between them -

that's a lot cash to find.

So, to get their cars back,

they've agreed to pay in instalments.

And the owner of the white Mercedes is being pursued

for handling stolen goods,

because the blue disabled badge belonged to someone else.

Helen Dolphin from Disabled Motoring UK is delighted.

It's the message her organisation want to get across

to blue-badge abusers.

This is what all local authorities should be doing,

they can't be sitting on their laurels saying,

"It's not a problem in our area."

They all need to be doing these kind of days, this kind of action,

making it part of what an enforcement officer does

on their day-to-day activities.

Well, that's your lot for today. Thanks for watching.