Saffron Walden: Neighbourhood policing officer chases down graffiti vandal

“You’ve been caught by a 45-year-old – that’s embarrassing.”

Saffron Walden’s dedicated bobby on the beat, PC Ryan McNamara, proved age is just a number when he chased down a teenage vandal.

The officer, part of our recently strengthened Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), caught the 17-year-old offender in the act while on patrol in the town last month.

Responding to reports of anti-social behaviour at a car park in Elm Grove, he discovered the teen spraying graffiti on the wall.

A short foot chase followed, but the culprit stood little chance of escaping.

He was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

PC McNamara works hard for our dedicated NPT Uttlesford, tackling issues including anti-social behaviour (ASB) as a priority.

Together with the rest of his team, these efforts have seen a sharp and continued fall in the number of ASB incidents across the district.

That’s a 5% fall in the number of incidents year-on-year, and an 18% decrease when compared with pre-Covid levels.

The teenage vandal has since been dealt with by way of a referral to a youth rehabilitation programme after he confessed to the graffiti and offered to pay for damages.

'I'm proud to serve my neighbourhood'

PC McNamara said:

“Where this room for it, there has to be an approach of working with young people to rehabilitate them and steer them away from a negative path, or a future of further offending.
“I hope this young man continues to engage with the help that is on offer and recognises the seriousness of his actions.
“Anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and other similar crimes are unacceptable to me personally and to the rest of your Neighbourhood Policing Team.
“I’m proud to serve the town and district I call home.
“I know people in my neighbourhood want to see us tackling incidents of anti-social behaviour and graffiti is a prime example of this.
“We don’t treat this issue as simply low-level offending. Anti-social behaviour harms perception and pride in our towns and fuels other crime.
“We can’t be complacent on this issue and it’s exactly the type of offending we in your Neighbourhood Policing Team will continue to tackle.
“Offenders simply will not get away with damaging property and causing issues for law-abiding businesses and residents in Uttlesford.
“Please keep in touch with us and continue to tell us about the issues you’re seeing. We will take action.”

Uttlesford NPT Inspector Phil Jackson added:

“I’m pleased to see a reinforcing of neighbourhood policing in Uttlesford.
“Our priority is preventing and detecting crime impacting on our towns and also our rural communities.
“Be it through patrols or engagement, or proactive operations targeting known offenders, we’ll be tackling the issues that matter to you most.”

Across Essex, we’ll have introduced 74 officers to our NPTs by the end of June 2025, as part of the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

You can read more about our expanded NPTs.

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