Officers joined volunteers from the community in an effort to crack down on waste and improve safety in the park, writes Claire Shaw

A police officer in Pymmes Park (left) and (right) bags of litter collected on the day (credit Claire Shaw)

A machete was among the dumped items found in Pymmes Park during a Metropolitan Police ‘day of action’.

Supported by the Kingdom Group and local organisations such as the Friends of Pymmes Park, the event earlier this month was part of a new ‘Pymmes Park Restoration Project’ aimed at make the park cleaner and safer while highlighting the need to deter criminals from making outside spaces feel unsafe.

As the event kicked off with a community litter picking effort, a 35mm machete the weapon was discovered hidden in an area of brambles – but there were no traces of blood or any indication that the weapon had been used in an act of violence.

Event organiser Zac Paul, a local neighbourhood police officer, argues that cleaning up the park and maintaining it will help encourage visitors and, in turn, will work as a deterrent to opportunistic criminals and reduce crime, especially during the day.

PC Paul said: “The crime we experience during the day is mainly theft, robbery and dangerous dogs incidents, [with] nighttime crime being more serious incidents, mainly violence against women and girls.”

Many people in the community say they do not feel safe to use the park, partly due to its lack of lighting. Women feel vulnerable and so avoid walking through the park, especially in the evenings.

PC Paul hopes the project will help raise awareness of the dangers littering poses both to people’s health and the environment. He particularly wants to reduce the amount of cigarette butts thoughtlessly discarded on the ground.

Also at the event was Will Russell, of the Kingdom Group, who explained that 120 tonnes of cigarette butts are thrown on the floor each day in the UK, costing approximately £3billion per year in street cleaning. “Every cigarette has the potential to pollute 40 litres of water,” he said.

But Will feels positive about the impact the initiative will have, and said: “It’s about that joint partnership, not just us, not just the police, there’s been youth engagement today alongside the parks team and a lot of volunteers too.

“Hopefully one by one we can change people’s behaviour through education and enforcement and realise the issues it causes and how it makes people feel.”

Kingdom works in partnership with local authorities to help combat environmental crime and reduce anti-social behaviour.

PC Paul also has high hopes for the future of the Pymmes Park initiative and aims to greatly increase community involvement and collaboration to restore pride in the environment. He added: “Today has been the start of something that will continue to expand over time.”

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