A CENTRE dedicated to helping Wokingham’s vulnerable residents is the latest place to be targeted by vandals.
The Wokingham Crisis House in Station Approach had its windows smashed last week.
In a letter to The Wokingham Paper, printed on page 15, Pam Jenkinson – who runs the centre – said: “In recent weeks, the Crisis House has had a kitchen window smashed in, a front window smashed in, a toilet side-window partially broken, and now, this week, all the toilet windows – smashed in completely.
“I had asked the Police for extra surveillance, but the vandalism continues, unchecked.”
She said that she had tried to call the police but could never get through.
“Our members say that nothing ever gets to me,” Ms Jenkinson continued. “Well, it’s no good sitting down and moaning; you just have to get on and sweep up the broken glass! But something does get to me – the fact that I have to waste charity money on all these repairs and security measures – because of Wokingham’s current spate of lawlessness.”
And she warned that visitors to the town centre entering via the railway station opposite could be in for a bad first impression.
“If our latest protective measures prove to be inadequate, we shall have to resort to encasing ourselves in razor wire – effective, but it does look so awful!
“How would upmarket Wokingham look then?”
The incident is one of a number that The Wokingham Paper has reported on in recent weeks.
They have included Wokingham town’s Christmas tree being vandalised several times, a shopper in Boots having cream poured on her and a dog walker having excrement thrown at her.
Car windscreens have been smashed and there have also been reports of vandals causing mischief in Waitrose.
Following growing residential concern regarding antisocial behaviour across, Superintendent Shaun Virtue of Thames Valley Police said: “Police are aware of some of the reports of anti-social behaviour in certain areas of the Wokingham borough.
“Thames Valley Police continue to dedicate officers to patrolling areas where there is increased criminality and antisocial behaviour. Additionally, each of the instances reported are investigated, often leading to our teams conducting enquiries, analysing CCTV and speaking with those in the area to build evidence and intelligence.
“Those offenders identified are then dealt with by arrest or other means. For repeat offenders we additionally seek to secure Community Behaviour Orders.
“Certainly, over the holiday period we have seen an increase in the incidents reported, so in response increased our patrols and availability of our local neighbourhood teams.
“We encourage the public to share information and using the Thames Valley Alert app update on current crimes or disorder.”
