DOZENS of frustrated residents have called for more police visibility in Beechey Road and Lowther Gardens and have now set up a neighbourhood watch to tackle anti-social behaviour and drug dealing.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick attended the unveiling of the new neighbourhood watch on Thursday night and listened to residents’ frustration at the lack of action taken against a “well-known drug dealer”.

Co-ordinator of the group, Ian Lawrence said: “It looks a very pleasant area, so you wouldn’t really expect drug dealing to be based in Milton Road and another one in Lowther Gardens, but it’s there all the time.

Bournemouth Echo: Residents gather for the unveiling of the new neighbourhood watch in Beechey Road

“One authority in the country which has used cameras intelligently is the Kenilworth initiative, they joined the local, private and the public cameras in one system, something gets reported and within three minutes everyone on the network is informed, every year since it was introduced, the amount of crime has gone down.

“That is something I would really like here because the local people want to help.”

Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick said the force was looking at piloting a scheme similar to the initiative in Kenilworth.

He told residents: “Let me address the problem that was presented to me when I got here, I was given a picture of a drug dealer who is obviously well known.

“I have a real, real problem with that. I think we need tough enforcement on the dealers, we have to go much further than that.

“We need effective rehabilitation, we have to help them get over the addiction.

“We need impactful education. We want to talk to our young people in a way which lands. We need to tell them the fact that if you take ketamine, you could be like the two kids in Weymouth who are in their twenties who don’t have bladders.

“We need to talk to them about my best friend’s girl who died on the floor of the O2 Academy from MDMA, we have to make those arguments to our kids.”

Speaking after the unveiling, Mr Sidwick told the Daily Echo: “I think there is a great deal of frustration here.

“There’s a huge appetite in the community to address ASB and this is exactly the sort of neighbourhood that we need to make a difference in.

“I am the people’s representative, I want to hear their problems. There were people there frustrated because they reported problems and nothing happened, some of those I’m very angry about.

“We have to now move forward, I can’t fix the past, I can’t fix their past experiences, but I can make a difference for their future.”