Yates put on extra patrols to address interface clashes

A new double-headed camera at the Wapping Lane/Abercorn Road, improved cameras at the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall and increased foot patrols were part of a range of measures put in place over the past two to three months to combat the problem.

Chief Inspector Yates said gangs of drunken nationalist and loyalist youths had regularly been clashing in the area carrying out tit-for-tat sectarian attacks. Following complaints from residents the local police chief said he took a number of steps to curb the problem.

"We paid for the camera at the end of Wapping Lane/Abercorn Road. We replaced a single headed camera with a double headed camera so it could look in both directions," he told the Sentinel last week.

"Things there were starting to bubble. The tensions were rising. There were a lot of tit-for-tat attacks across the interface at the bottom end of the Fountain estate. A couple of houses were firebombed, windows were broken and I think things were starting to escalate," he said.

"But again we put additional resources in there, replacement cameras and things have calmed down a bit. We work in cycles. Again, we are coming into the marching season. We have to be aware if there is trouble in that area it can cause us problems for the rest of the summer."

Chief Inspector Yates said the Northern Ireland Office has also taken steps to address the problem by introducing new fencing and extending existing fencing to make residents of the Fountain feel more secure.

He also said he was compelled to take action when approached by residents through one of the local community forums.

"People from the estate came to me through various forums saying 'look, you need to get a grip on this, you need to have a look,'" he said.

"I was actually on one Saturday night. I did the yellow coat patrol up in the town and we were sitting up in the control room at 3am in the morning and I was watching what was going on in the Fountain on the CCTV system which is downloaded into our station.

"It was clear there were groups gathering there and it was clear they were gathering there to have some sort of confrontation. Both sides. It's important to say that.

"Because with the installation of the CCTV at the interfaces and the improvement of the CCTV at the Memorial Hall we have seen a displacement all away around the Fountain down into that area.

"So we've seen groups of nationalist youths, nationalist and republican youths gathering at Foyle Valley Railway and drinking and then launching attacks up from there into the Fountain and attacks being launched from the Fountain down into that area," he commented.

He said the council maintained museum has become the latest focus of sectarian incidents in the city centre and that it is an issue he is acutely aware of and that this was why he was putting additional resources into tackling the issue.