BY GRAHAM MAJOR
The original park police presence in Haringey was by the London County Council Parks Police who in 1896 maintained one Sergeant, one Acting Sergeant, seven Constables and a Night Watchman in Finsbury Park. Haringey formed its Parks Police Force, originally known as the Haringey Parks Patrol, in November 2002 in order to reduce crime and address issues of truancy in the Borough's parks.
The initial seven recruits came from within the Council, with a further four being recruited externally, to give the Service an establishment of eleven officers, these being one Inspector, one Sergeant and nine Constables.
The main role of the Service was law enforcement, crime reporting and high visibility patrolling. They also provided an alarm response service for Council buildings at night and out of hours. The preferred method of dealing with incidents was by way of advice, enforcement being a final course of action. The Service regularly conducted joint operations with the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and other agencies such as Trading Standards and the Street Warden Service. They also had agreed protocols with the Metropolitan Police, and as a result any person arrested by them would be taken to a local police station for processing.
In June 2003 the Service moved to a new base in Manor House Lodge Finsbury Park, from where it monitored the parks CCTV and dispatched Officers to patrol the Borough's other parks. At this time they were dealing with some 650 incidents a year and were making about 25 arrests annually.
The establishment at this time was fourteen Officers, comprising one Inspector, one Sergeant and twelve Constables (One of whom was a Senior Constable and head of the four Officer Dog Section. There were also three motorcycle Officers).
An integral part of the Constabulary was the Dog Handlers Unit. This comprised four dogs and handlers trained to Home Office standards. The Metropolitan Police, Haringey, and the Wandsworth Parks Police assisted in the training, and shadowing of the unit.
The debate on disbanding the Service began in late 2007, and as a result of a drive to cut costs, the Service was disbanded in March 2009.
Cover was provided 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Initial training was of three weeks duration conducted by an outside agency. This was followed by periodic refresher training to keep Officers up-to-date with issues affecting their work.
Officers were appointed Constables under Section 18, Ministry of Housing and Local Government Provisional Order Confirmation (Greater London Parks and Open Spaces) Act 1967.
Police style uniform was worn, with body armour and handcuffs being issued for personal protection. The Service had six vehicles and three motorcycles and, like other Park Constabularies, was answerable to the local authority for its actions.
