SDLP Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan
Said the Foyle MLA: “The incident on Sackville Street yesterday evening was absolutely abhorrent.
“Thinking of the ‘Good Samaritan’ who stepped in to help and his poor children, who were in the car at the time during what was an extremely frightening situation.
“There needs to be a focus on reducing crime and fear of crime in our city centre.
“It’s heart-breaking to see these problems bleeding on to our streets – products of a broken and dysfunctional society.
“There have been plenty of issues in Derry with colossal cuts to vital support programmes, cuts to community policing but the situation has been further compounded by vulnerable people being relocated here, away from their own support networks.
“It’s not sustainable, quite frankly, it’s dangerous and has been allowed to spiral despite countless warnings from myself and others.
“Lifting the lid on this pressure cooker means implementing an urgent framework that focuses on keeping city centres safe, the Housing Executive must focus on local connection and on-hand support services to prevent an escalation in need.
“The bottom line is keeping people safe – the existing ‘vicious circle’ structure fails to do just that.”
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