Crime Summit 2009
Met Police Borough Commander Kevin Hurley told more than 300 residents at the council’s third annual Crime Summit that crime is continuing to fall in the borough.
Detective Chief Superintendent Hurley said the police in the borough were getting results, and pointed to record falls in robbery, burglary and vehicle theft as well as rising detection rates. He said: “In the past year we have closed more crack houses than the whole of Wales. The public own these streets, not the criminals, bullies or yobs. That is why we are here today. We will continue to take the streets back and bully the bullies.”
Residents heard that H&F is on track to see 500 fewer crimes than the year before, which in turn saw 2,000 fewer crimes compared to the year before that.
Opening the day, H&F Council Leader, Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh said: “Crime is the number one issue. We believe in zero tolerance and robust policing and we can only do that by working closely with the police.”
Cllr Greenhalgh said he had three requests of the Borough Commander: To keep police active and on the streets; to build on the success of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams and increased number of Neighbourhood Watches and keep a check on violent crime.
Before talking to officials about crime on a street-by-street basis, residents heard that the council is spending £1.15 million on extra Beat Bobbies in 2009/10. Hammersmith Broadway will become the third town centre to benefit from extra beat Bobbies.
The council’s Cabinet Member for Crime & Street Scene, Cllr Greg Smith, said that getting more police on the streets – particularly in town centres – has been the centrepiece of the council’s approach in cracking down on crime. He said: “First and foremost, it is important to remember that councils are not providers or commissioners of policing but, because we know that a top priority for residents is for the streets to be safe, we have put cash into enhancing police numbers.
“Nowhere in London will you find a town centre with more beat Police officers, thanks to the extra council funding.”
The council’s £4 million, two year 24/7 neighbourhood beat policing pilots in Fulham Broadway and Shepherds Bush Green have already put an extra 50 officers onto the streets. And the results have been impressive. In Shepherds Bush Green Ward, there has been an 11 per cent reduction in the number of crimes with a victim, while in Fulham Broadway there has been a 16 per cent reduction.
The summit heard that priority areas, as set by residents, have seen big improvements with robbery down by 60 per cent in Shepherds Bush and a 77 per cent reduction in alcohol fuelled crime and disorder in Fulham Broadway.
Cllr Smith continues: “What you said to us last year really made a difference and brought action but today is about refreshing our priorities, to ensure the things you want to see tackled are at the top of the agenda.”
Although it was generally acknowledged that large strides have been made in cracking down on crime in the past two years – with double digit increases in residents’ satisfaction – officials now have another long list of actions to tackle.
The Crime Summit brought together the Police and all the council services involved in cracking down on crime in H&F. Officers are now working hard to collate the hundreds of comments from the 16 residents’ workshops into a list of actions for urgent attention.
Local resident Derek Luckham, 66, said: “The summit gives people a chance to get together to fight problems they were trying to deal with independently, as they often don’t know who to go to.
“I was able to speak directly to the chief of police about an issue in my area, something that would have taken weeks to happen otherwise. I have seen a difference with the police, it has changed quite a lot, especially my area in Fulham.”
As well as funding extra Police officers, Cllr Smith spoke about the additional measures the council has put in place to up the ante against the criminal minority. "Zero-tolerance action, against things like graffiti, fly-tipping, public drunkenness and youths causing havoc on mopeds, is now common place. The council is proactively challenging the environment for crime and, over the past two years, has cleared away 13,000 fly-tips; removed nearly 6,000 pieces of graffiti and issued more than 1,000 litter fines."
Cllr Smith continues: "Our borough wide controlled drinking area has brought the number of street drinkers in the borough down by over 60 per cent. Nevertheless, the problem still persists in pockets around the borough, like Shepherds Bush Road. So, we have gone one step further and our Licensing Committee recently banned the sale of super strength beer and cider in off licences in the area."
The Summit also heard that three years ago there were six Neighbourhood Watch groups in this borough. Today there are more than 130.
Cllr Smith concludes: “The Crime Summit proved that, although there is still a long way to go to make this borough truly safe, our direction of travel is very strong.
“This borough is getting safer but there remains so much more to do. Crime, and the environment for crime, can be tackled and we can fix our broken society but we will need the continued help of residents to do it.”
» Watch the Crime Summit 2009 video on YouTube (opens new window)
» See the Crime Summit 2009 photos on Flickr (opens new window)
» Watch the Envirocrime video on YouTube (opens new window)
