Published at 09:02, Saturday, 31 July 2010

Mark Nevison oozes enthusiasm for his role as a police community support officer. Walking his patch in Raffles he is used to dealing with neighbourhood disputes, dogs on the loose and youths causing minor disturbances.

PCSO Mark Nevison

PCSOs are not replacement police officers but are there to address some of the tasks that do not require the experience or powers held by officers.

It’s a far cry from Mr Nevison’s previous job as a holiday rep and team leader with Thomsons in sunny resorts.

After 11 years of airport pick ups, meet and greets and making sure guests were happy with their accommodation, Mr Nevison, 37, decided to return home.

“I worked in Cyprus, Ibiza, the Canary Islands and Tunisia.

“It was a great life but I wanted something a bit more settled so I decided to come back home. I wanted a more normal life,” he said.

Mr Nevison applied to several forces but Cumbria Constabulary were recruiting at the time.

He said: “I thought it would be a fun job because every day would be different. You get to go out and meet so many different people and I thought given my experience and people skills it would be a good job to do.”

Now 15 months into his job, Mr Nevison couldn’t be happier.

He plays football with youths at Morton’s Richard Rose Academy on a Wednesday night and he’s just recently helped organise a series of six Summer Splash events in Chances Park.

All this helps tackle the number one problem on his beat which is anti-social behaviour.

“It’s quite a big part of what I do, “ said Mr Nevison.

“It basically frees up the police officers so they can do the more serious jobs.”

Youths throwing stones at windows and doors, hanging around shops intimidating people, causing minor damage to phone boxes are just some of the things that Mr Nevison is called to.

“Neighbourly disputes and dogs barking and fouling are other problems which might not seem like much to you or I but they are very upsetting for those involved and can build up into something much bigger,” said Mr Nevison.

Sometimes he has to call on other agencies like Riverside Housing to get involved.

He said: “I work very closely with Riverside and we often have meetings with other agencies to work out how best to tackle a problem

“Sometimes we call on the social care system and the family intervention programme to help if kids are misbehaving. They try to find positive ideas – it’s not always negative.”

PCSOs across the city have organised three SAFE clubs (Sport, Active, Fitness, Exercise) to give kids something to do and a place to go.

Mr Nevison said: “These clubs were up and running before I became a PCSO but they are hugely successful.

“There is one in Morton, one at St Aidan’s/Trinity and one in the south of the city.

“I go along to the Morton one sometimes at the Richard Rose Academy on a Wednesday night. It’s great for the kids they get to play football, cricket and go swimming.

“I play too and it helps a great rapport with the kids. They don’t take the mickey out of me and we’re on first-name terms which brings respect.

“The kids listen to what you’ve got to say.

“We work really hard and it’s not always appreciated by the public. I love my job and think that PCSOs do play a vital role in the community.”

Mr Nevison is so involved in the Raffles and west Carlisle community that he even landed himself a part in the Living Well Trust Christmas pantomime.

He said: “I’m used to acting from my role as a holiday rep with Thomson’s so I got a part in the panto so people could see me in a different light.”

The police also bought a pool table for the Living Well Trust and regularly hold pool competitions and tournaments with some of the older boys. “They usually win,” said Mr Nevison.

Going into schools and educating children about road safety, personal safety and drugs and alcohol is another aspect of the job. Mr Nevison looks after Newtown and St Bede’s RC School.

“I usually take a police officer with me when I do the drugs talk because the pack contains actual drugs and what they all look like.”

We also confiscate a lot of alcohol from the youths too, which gets destroyed at the police station. This is quite a big part of my role as it is important to clamp down on anti-social behaviour.”

Mr Nevison and his colleagues also set up police surgeries in Somerfield supermarket and the Cumberland Infirmary. He said: “It’s a great way of meeting people and people do like to come and talk to us in these places so they are not seen approaching the police station if they feel hindered by doing that.

“The surgeries help us gather intelligence and report illegal activity to the police officers.”

They also organise police meetings in west Carlisle and have plans to take the mobile unit out at the next event.

This summer Mr Nevison has helped organise a series of summer fun events at Chances Park.

The first of six free Summer Splash events was held last Friday night. There was loud music, bouncy castles, bicycle obstacle courses and archery to give kids something to do.

The police organised the Summer Splash event along with Connexions, Riverside Housing and Carlisle City Council. Staff from Connexions knocked on doors and talked to people in the streets around Morton to find out what they wanted from the fun events.

The police gave £6,000 to fund the events and upcoming attractions will include paintballing, sumo wrestling, boxing and face painting.

Mr Nevison added: It’s easy to tar all young people with the same brush, but the majority of young people in our area are law abiding, and just need something to do and somewhere to go during the summer holidays.”

Summer Splash is held in Chances Park every Friday between 5.30pm and 8.30pm until August 27. Anyone aged seven to 17 is welcome.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk