New Journal reporter joins patrol officers on the Heath beat

HEATH police battled fire, drugs and an ambulance stuck in the mud this week as they defended themselves against charges of irrelevance.
Fire raged for four hours in the West Heath on Friday night while an ambulance got stuck on Parliament Hill fields on its way to picking up a man rescued at sea by a Royal Navy helicopter. The Royal Navy regularly use the site so patients can be transferred by ambulance to the Royal Free Hospital.
Arsonists are believed to be behind a series of late night blazes at a dump of chopped wood on the West Heath in recent months, although fire service investigators say they cannot rule out an accident caused by a dropped cigarette at the popular gay cruise site.
And a police lorry was eventually needed to hoist the stuck ambulance from heavy mud in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Hampstead Heath Constabulary invited the New Journal on a patrol on Monday morning after attracting criticism from campaigners who say the force of 12 officers is a waste of money which would be better spent on the Heath’s three swimming ponds.
Constables Geoff Keeley and Jackie Wilkinson say they cannot understand heath users who described them as “arrogant and aloof”, insisting that they say hello to everyone they pass.
On Monday they found syringes in toilets at Parliament Hill Fields for the third time in recent weeks, pointing to a growing heroin problem on the heath.
The force dealt with just 1,361 incidents in 2003, the last year for which figures are available.
But PC Keeley said: “About 80 per cent of our job is prevention, the effects of which are impossible to measure accurately.
“But if you look at places like Finsbury Park, which until recently was unpoliced, the problems there are much worse.”
Heath Superintendent Simon Lee said he had conducted a thorough review of the constabulary in late 2002, when six dog-handling officers were made redundant.
He said: “The 12 officers I have now are the absolute minimum I need to provide a service 365 days a year.”
Officers point out that the heaviest users of the Heath are unaccompanied women walking their dogs – something they say would be impossible without a police presence.
They say they need to use their van and four wheel drive vehicle, both of which have been criticised by campaigners, to cover their 800 acre beat with only two officers working at any one time.
A lot of their time is spent checking the toilets for signs of sexual activity, as well as patrolling the West Heath, where at least seven men appeared to be cruising for sex at lunchtime on Monday.
PC Keeley concedes they will not stop men using the Heath for sex but said: “There would be a lot more here if we did not make regular patrols and it is about educating people to clear up after themselves and consider other people using the Heath.”