Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Nelson mulls 'Manilow method' to deter loiterers

From The Nelson Mail, 7 November 2006 [shortened a bit]

Nelson police and the city council [my employer! remember] are thinking about using the "Manilow method" to disperse boy racers and boozing teenagers from the inner-city Buxton Square carpark.

The method - playing Barry Manilow and other easy-listening tunes through speakers in central city public spaces to discourage young people from loitering - is used in England and Australia, and could soon be in Whangarei and now Nelson.

The Buxton carpark borders several inner-city bars and has been the scene of plenty of fights and disorderly behaviour. A court judge once described it as a "gladiatorial arena". Senior Sergeant Tony Bernards said Nelson police were working with the council, inner-city residents and businesses to improve safety and the Manilow method was one tactic being considered.

Nelson man John Pinel and Fresh FM programme director Jo Ann Firestone tested the Manilow method in Buxton Square on a recent Saturday night. The pair drove into the carpark, Manilow blasting from the car stereo, and sought reaction from teenagers. Mr Pinel said "we turned a few heads but no one attacked the car or anything". He said the teenagers hated Manilow's music but had told him it wouldn't stop them coming to Buxton Square.

Mr Pinel criticised the council [still my employer, they aren't well liked--really the councillors though, not the staff], police and retailers for not wanting to look at why there were problems in Buxton Square. They appeared to want to hide the problem, he said. Safe City council community liaison adviser Ingrid Beach [she is notorious for not giving us updates on the web pages she is responsible for, they are really outdated!] said Mr Pinel's criticism was typical.
The council was doing more than just trying to get young people out of Buxton Square. It was also trying to get young school leavers into employment or training through its social wellbeing policy.

The council had received complaints about puddles of vomit and urine in Buxton Square, boy racers drinking out of car boots and doing dangerous hand-brake skids, rubbish, violence and vandalism. She said young girls were also going there to be "picked up". "We want to make it a safe place." Street ambassadors and Maori wardens were now patrolling the carpark during weekends, she said.

Sports Cafe manager Craig Bradford and Shark Club owner Steve Shepherd both said a stronger police presence would deter juvenile delinquents from hanging around the area. Mr Bradford suggested police set up a kiosk like the one in Christchurch's Cathedral Square and said the Manilow method wouldn't work because boy racers would just "pump up" their own stereos.

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