Targeted for RUC charm
How community policing really works
The RUC are engaged in a ``charm offensive'' in the Upper
Springfield according to local community activists.
Liam Stone, chairperson of Upper Springfield Community forum,
says the offensive, which has been ongoing for some weeks now, is
being run from the massive barracks recently commissioned on the
Springfield Road.
``A Sergeant Robin Dempsey has been phoning around individuals
involved in various projects in the area, identifying himself as
a community police person and offering RUC assistance wherever it
should be required or requested,'' Stone said.
To date the RUC man has contacted people from Moyard, New
Barnsley, Springhill and Whiterock but has yet to convince anyone
of any benefit to be gained by involving the RUC in any way in
the development of the Upper Springfield area.
``Given most people's experience at the hands of the RUC it is
hardly surprising that no-one wants to now this PC Plod even when
he comes across like our very best friend,'' said a woman from New
Barnsley whom the RUC contacted. ``It was really funny; after he
got through introducing himself he says that he's not like the
`rest of them', obviously referring to those other bad old RUC
people''.
The man has been in the area for the past five years and is
anxious at this time to help the people in tackling the multitude
of problems that affect them. ``He told me that with his help the
people could get possession of the ground recently vacated at the
Henry Taggart Barracks,'' reported a man from Springfield Park.
Sgt Dempsey called a member of the recently formed
Whiterock/Westrock residents association and mentioned that a
particular vehicle ``was acting suspiciously in their area, and
may have been involved in several attempted abductions of
children''. The residents association checked out the story and
no-one in the area knew anything about the vehicle or the
attempted abductions.
During the last IRA cessation the RUC visited local schools to
advise children on `Stranger Danger'.'' At the time local parents
protested about the visits, calling them mere public relations
exercises. It is also important to note that at that time the RUC
also said that there had been attempted abductions in the
Whiterock area and thus this was the reason for the school
visits,'' said a spokesperson for the Frank Cahill resource
centre.
``Their concern for the children and people of the Whiterock area
rings a bit hollow given their record in the area. For years the
Whiterock people suffered at the hands of a relatively few
gangsters who seemed to act with impunity. The situation provoked
newspaper headlines which painted a horrible picture of this area
and its people. But acting on their own initiative the community
soon turned things around and now they are at last enjoying the
relative peace they themselves worked so hard to bring about,'' he
said.
Just last week two of those people who were terrorising the
Whiterock/Westrock showed up again in a stolen car. On Wednesday
evening last the car they were driving crashed, killing a young
woman.
``There's no doubt in my mind that the RUC can turn these hoods on
and off at will. It is no coincidence that after the people took
it into their own hands to deal with a problem that the RUC were
unwilling to deal with, these two gangsters show up again to
create a problem which the RUC can once more exploit,'' said Liam
Stone. ``Every person in this area could give a valid reason for
ignoring the approaches of Robin Dempsey. Personally I find it
hard to forget that it was a `community policeman' who recruited
[British agent] Martin McGartland.''