Undercover litter force 'just a farce'

FED-UP police officers say they are being sent out in plain clothes to catch litter louts – even though they have no power to fine them.

FARCE The litter cops can t fine offenders FARCE: The litter cops can't fine offenders

Officers have been ordered to deal with a range of minor offences including dog fouling on pavements.

But, in an embarrassing admission of their lack of powers, they have to radio a Police Community Support Officer to attend who are then allowed to give an on-the-spot fine of £50 to £80.

Police in North Wales, where serious crime has rocketed year-on-year, have this week been told they need to “up the number” of people they stop for littering offences.

PC Richard Eccles, the General Secretary of the North Wales Police Federation, said: “Police officers act as litter-spotters but because they cannot issue the fines they have to detain the offender and wait for the PCSO to arrive. They feel like idiots.”

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told the Police Federation conference that the number of targets were to be slashed.

But while giving her address, officers in North Wales were ordered to “up their game” over litter louts.

PC Eccles said: “The Home Secretary was talking about removing some of the targets and performance indicators.

“But as she was speaking a colleague received a Blackberry message saying that he had to make sure his team issue 200 tickets for littering by the end of this year.”

He added that officers were fed up with dealing with minor crimes that local council officials should be dealing with.

“We should be more focused on more serious crime like burglaries, violent crimes and theft rather than being tasked with offences more suitably dealt with by the local council,” he said.

Compared with the same period last year, violent crime in North Wales has increased by 18 per cent, burglaries have risen by nearly 8 per cent and robberies have rocketed by an astonishing 115 per cent.

However a spokeswoman for North Wales Police said: “We consult with our communities and the issue of dog fouling and littering consistently feature high on people’s list of concerns.

“We act upon the needs of our communities and regularly take action to improve the lives of the communities that we serve.

“We make no apologies about this, and will continue to prosecute those who allow their dogs to foul public areas and those who drop litter.”

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