Crime priorities tackled
Thursday February 18, 2010
Hundreds of crime related problems have been systematically tackled since they were raised by residents at last year’s Crime Summit.
Littering, graffiti, broken street lights and vandalism issues have all been dealt with since 300 local people visited Hammersmith Town Hall to highlight their crime-fighting priorities to the authorities. Since the meeting in February 2009, council and Police officers have also upped the ante on borough-wide issues like burglary, aggressive dog owners and street drunks.
Key crimes like burglary, robbery and motor vehicle thefts have all fallen significantly in recent years and the council has also been proactively challenging the environment for crime. Since last year’s Summit the council has removed more than 9,000 flytips, cleaned up more than 1,800 bits of graffiti and issued more than 1,000 fines to litter louts. The borough’s streets are getting cleaner with 93 per cent now meeting Keep Britain Tidy standards.
52 crime related issues were raised at the Summit but many of the problems were duplicated across the borough’s 16 wards creating a much longer list for the Police and council to get on with.
In Shepherds Bush Green binge drinking revellers were targeted by drug and alcohol officers after residents alerted the authorities to the problems with rowdy late-night drunks. There were similar problems in Fulham Broadway which have also been tackled.
Resident Desmond Campbell, 43, a stock controller from Powell Close in Shepherds Bush, said: “I have seen a very big improvement. The police got rid of the drunks, cleaned up the Green and got rid of the crack houses. It’s been a long process but it’s starting to pay off now.”
Officers started patrolling West Kensington and Barons Court tube stations with sniffer dogs after residents tipped the authorities off to drug use in the area. The operations were a direct result of concerns raised by residents at the Crime Summit and have resulted in numerous arrests.
Brook Green resident Frances McAllister, 50, said: “The Crime Summit is a good opportunity to see people face to face and work out who is doing what.”
This year’s Crime Summit – which is the fourth to held in H&F – takes place on March 6 and is another chance for residents to shape the crime-fighting priorities of the Police and council on a ‘hyper-local’ level, according to Cllr Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Crime and Street Scene. He says: “Sometimes big organisations, like the Met Police, are quite good at understanding the major issues but less good at tackling very local problems. By hearing first hand what the daily concerns of residents are on a hyper-local level we are getting round this problem and making sure nothing is missed.
“A proactive dialogue with residents is key to our zero-tolerance crime fighting approach and getting up-to-date intelligence really makes a big difference. We will be in full listening mode again at this year’s Summit and we plan to refresh our list again and ensure that residents’ priorities are our priorities.”
The Crime Summit 2010 will held in Hammersmith Town Hall, between 9am-2.30pm, on Saturday 6 March. If you would like to book a place or want more information please email crime.summit@lbhf.gov.uk or call 020 8753 2816.
