Covert police patrols and CCTV cameras are to be deployed at Cannock Chase in Staffordshire following a spike in reports of outdoor sexual activity there.
Yes, this is Britain in 2012, with the police secretly filming people going about their peaceful lawful lives.
Details of vehicles visiting Cannock Chase will be logged by the police to allow them “to gather evidence” against individuals, with policemen actually being deployed to hand out leaflets advising people the area is a well known dogging location.
Muttley
South Staffordshire Police have announced that their operation to tackle dogging at Cannock Chase will be called Operation Muttley! (you just couldn’t make it up)
For those of you too young to know who Muttley was, he was the faithful dog of accident prone Dick Dastardly in the hugely popular TV series Wacky Races.
Muttley first appeared in Wacky Races in 1968 as the sidekick of Dick Dastardly and he often used to snigger at Dastardly’s strange antics. Dick and Muttley were later paired together in various series and were portrayed as bumbling fools.
Dick Dastardly
Inspector Donna Gibbs, who may end up being known as Donna Dastardly, from South Staffordshire police said: “In order to address concerns that have been raised we are conducting high visibility patrols right across the area, and are providing information to visitors at the locations identified.”
“We are seeking to both raise awareness of the problem and to deter any such inappropriate behaviour in the future in order to return the beauty spot to its former status, as a safe place for families to visit.”
She said members of the community had raised concerns about the issue at Cannock Chase, which for many years has been recognised as a spot for dogging activity, during which people engage in sexual acts in public or watch others doing so.
She said there had been an increase of reports following improved weather.
Over the coming weeks, police will be handing out leaflets warning that the area is a location where dogging takes place. Yes, that really is what the Police will be doing. Owners of vehicles seen for a second time will be sent letters – although it was not stated what would be in these letters.
Cannock Chase is of course famous as the location where footballer Stan Collymore used to enjoy dogging with strangers and it was Collymore who in many ways brought dogging to the attention of people who had never heard of the phrase before.
Stan Collymore hit the headlines back in 2004 when he was, ahem, exposed by undercover reporters from The Sun when he was out dogging in Cannock Chase. In the feature Collymore admitted “I’ve been to dogging sites maybe a dozen to fifteen times and, yes, I have taken part and had sex.” You can read more about the Stan Collymore Dogging episode here.
We say if dogging is your cup of tea, and you act within the laws of the land, you are entitled to be left alone and not be filmed by the Police. To check out where you can go dogging throughout the UK, including dogging spots in Staffordshire, check out this Dogging Spots guide.
