ABOUT 400 pupils from schools through the area had a glimpse of how police operate when they attended the open day at Castlederg police station on Thursday of last week.
Butas pupils prepared for the visit last week there were stirrings of controversy.
Sinn Fein's Charlie McHugh slammed the event as a publicity stunt in response to 'negative' publicity of the PSNI in the town.
"Children are bussed in to see the array of parapehnalia and equipment that most young Nationalists in this town see on the streets on a Saturday night.
"There needs to be quite a few more open days in Castlederg before the PSNI will be acceptable.
"It's false, the reality is that a part of our community are not part of this. What they see of policing is through the back of a landrover or on the front side of a riot shield."
But Insp Graham Dodds, the sector commander, said, "Policing is important to the people of Castlederg in making the town a safer place for all of the communities who live there and I'm pleased to see the relationship between the police and the vast majority of the community is positive and is growing stronger all the time.
"My officers have a strong ethos of policing with the community and they try to engage with local people on an ongoing basis to find local solutions to local problems.
"Last week's open day was aimed towards young people, who, are all, are the future of this community.
"The event was many months in the planning and, indeed, some of those who have made critical comments were invited several weeks ago. It is a pity that they did not turn up to see the enjoyment on the faces of the young children.Children are a community's most important asset and all have an obligation to keep them safe and we took an opportunity to get across some very important safety messages to school children on subjects such as keeping their property safe.
"I was pleased to see schools from across all communities in attendance, and indeed they were joined by civic and community leaders.
The police chief said that the feedback he had received from those who attended had been positive but he added that it was disappointing that some politicians sought to try to make some type of political point or capital by criticising the event.
"We know there are issues within the community and that sometimes tensions run high. We also know that some people have been critical of some policing activities. When there is criticism, we open ourselves up to the independent scrutiny of the Police Ombudsman's Office. And to date the only issue found against police has related to a technical breach of a Parades Commission determination.
"We thought we had gone beyond the days of routine condemnation of police activities. In the new era that has opened up, there is scope to meet and discuss issues."
so that they can be resolved satisfactorily.
"I have heard some people comment about the physical appearance of Castlederg police station. We too would love to operate from a facility that does not need blast walls or bomb-resistant doors. With good will on all sides, that day will come," concluded Inspector Dodds.
