Magistrates meet members of the public

Ghulam Rasul Shahzad OBE JP from Bury & Rochdale Magistrates Courts meets members of the public

As part of the Community Justice Initiative, Bury and Rochdale Magistrates gathered in the Millgate Shopping Centre in Bury on 7 November. This was one of a number of events they have organised to encourage local people to talk to Magistrates about their concerns on law and order issues in their local area.

There was a good response from members of the public who visited their stall and listed all their concerns for mention at court. In many areas the concerns are the same:

• Young people gathering and causing a disturbance 
• Issues on public transport in the evening 
• Again concerning the behaviour of young people 
• Concerns about drug dealing in the area and a sense 
• That the justice system is too soft 
• Sexual grooming of young girls was mentioned and the fact that it is still going on 
• Some people raised the matter of the elections of local Police and Crime

Commissioners, saying that they didn't know who these people were and that it shouldn't be political. It was encouraging that some people felt that they were getting a positive response from the local police in dealing with concerns.

The Magistrates are hoping to be at Morrison's in Heywood in February 2013 for a similar event.