Hi Vi squad defies sceptics
Thursday August 12, 2010
Volunteer patrols organised by Sands End residents to deter antisocial behaviour seem to be having an effect, with a fall in recorded crime.
However, police chiefs remain sceptical about Operation Hi-Vis, the task force which aims to reduce trouble on the Townmead estate.
“Relations are a bit strained,” admitted patrol member Ben Perl, 38, who believes that a decrease in crime in the past two months ago justifies the formation of the volunteer band.
Coded texts alert task force members to potential problems, such as groups of youths congregating in stairwells and smoking drugs.
Anyone available from the six-strong patrol team puts on a fluorescent jacket and heads to an agreed point, to make their presence known.
“It’s sending a very clear message that residents are prepared to take things into their own hands,” said Ben, looking back over the patrols’ first weeks.
A Home Office delegation has visited and observed the patrol in action, to investigate whether similar deterrent groups would be useful on other UK estates.
“We’ve proved everyone wrong – no one’s been stabbed yet!” said Ben, referring to sceptics’ initial concerns about the patrolling volunteers.
Det Sgt Simon Rogers of Fulham police said that his concern was ‘about the risks’, and warned volunteers that they might disrupt covert police operations.
The Met Police safer neighbourhood team expressed similar doubts about possible confrontations.
“It’s early days, but we’ve seen a decrease in crime,” said Ben, who refuses to be called a ‘vigilante’. “We were called out a couple of days ago to youths gathered on a stairwell, but they just left as soon as they saw us coming, and they haven’t been back since.”
He feels current numbers are adequate to deter antisocial behaviour, but concedes that the summer holidays are more likely to see groups of youths hanging around the Townmead estate.
“There has been a dramatic decrease in youths hanging out in stairwells and around fire escapes,” he said.
Ben has also noted a rise in the number of official police patrols on the estate – both by full-time uniformed officers and community police.
“I can’t say if it’s because of us, or the threat of cutbacks, or maybe because it’s summer, but there have been more police patrols, and they’ve actually confirmed that to us,” he said.
The biggest fans of the task force patrols are fellow estate residents.
“They are aware of our efforts and appreciate them,” said Ben. “One mother with children came up to me when I was out one time. I thought she was going to say that she didn’t need more people telling her how to live… but she thanked us for taking action.”
The patrol volunteers always approach congregating groups of youths casually, to avoid creating tension, and will call the police to intervene if it is felt necessary.
