Our reporter, Ryan Smith, spent a Saturday night as a ‘fly on the wall’ with local police…
VIEW FROM BEHIND…Constable Gavin Huey in a police Land Rover
JUST after 2am on Saturday night, a car tore down the Wellington Road in Enniskillen at high speed.
Sat in an unmarked Land Rover Discovery, Constable Gavin Huey took off in pursuit while his colleague, Constable Joanne Bradley made the next move, and a flash of red and blue emitted from above.
Around six hours previously, the two officers patrolled the town, its estates, and various nooks and crannies. It was quiet at that time, but there was a need to check, just in case.
“As well as public order we have our own tasks, neighbourhood tasks in the housing estates. We have instances to follow up on, enquiries to follow up on. Later on, when things start to get busy we concentrate more on the town centre,” explained Constable Huey.
While on patrol, the sharp-eared constable noticed the ringing of an alarm.
A businessman was opening doors to the premises, and, with the help of the officers, discovered the culprit: A cat. To make matters worse, the feline refused to identify itself.
But, we moved on.
Next, we visited a number of pubs within the town.
The constable noted that at this time an issue that they would look out for was that of underage drinking, but, in the pubs we visited, nothing untoward came of it.
“We are the liaison officers for the vintners and the licencees of the town,” continued Constable Huey.
“We’ve a good working relationship with them. Occasionally we’ve the odd incident. But we know premises are struggling, and they know we’re on their side.”
“But we have to work within the rules,” he added.
The town was beginning to get a little busier at that time.
As I patrolled the streets with Constable Joanne Bradley, it was generally well-mannered. The public spoke with the officers, and the officers with the public.
One man even spoke to me: “Stop sucking balls,” he kindly advised, as we passed one particular pub.
With the town a little busier and as movement began to come from outside licensed premises, a call came on the radio regarding an excessive alcohol incident.
The Land Rover, along with the two constables, made its way to the Sligo Road, to assist in dealing with the incident. The person was charged to appear in court.
“Unfortunately drink seems to connect to a lot of the things we do: Fights up the town, broken windows, domestic incidents,” said Constable Heuy.
“There are good people who can fall foul of their drink.”
He did, as we called it a night, describe the town as ‘good’, to live and work in.
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