Hot topic: beat bobbies
H&F Council is spending £1.1 million on extra Bobbies on the beat this year (09/10)
Crime is falling and people say policing is improving. In Shepherds Bush, 67% of people said the police are doing a good job, up 12 per cent.
No-go inner-city areas have been reclaimed.
Councils do not usually fund the Police, as this money is supposed to come from the Home Office, but the two squads have proved so successful in cracking down on crime that, from the first week of April, H&F Council is paying for a third extra squad - this time in Hammersmith. » Read more on this
» Read the Night on the beat special feature | » See the photos on Flickr (opens new window)
• Do you think more Beat Bobbies are needed?
• Should council tax be spent on extra police?
• What is crime like in your area?
• Do rising arrests make you feel safer?
Please read our publishing policy.
I would like to thank our borough for funding our 24/7 Safer Neighbourhoods Teams in Shepherds Bush Green ward. We have had a lot of successes, our streets are much safer, and our neighbourhoods are more vibrant. Businesses are now beginning to warm up to the advantages of coming on board, in particular our smaller more local businesses in W12. We are seeing a lot of good initiatives, let us all support the excellent work, we all have benefiting from these past 2 years, and fully support our safer neighbourhoods teams in W12, to continue the work into the future.
From John Ryan on 04/04/09
We have seen crime tumble in the two town centres with extra beat Bobbies. This approach, combined with more traditional beat policing, is the only way to tackle Britain’s growing epidemic of booze-fuelled town centre crime. It is not the Police’s fault that there are not enough of them in our town centres. It is up to the Home Office to release our Bobbies from all the pointless and obstructive red tape they have to endure. If they did this then maybe council taxpayers might not have to foot this bill. The stats prove that our beat Policing trials have worked and they should now be rolled out across London as standard.
Councillor Greg Smith, H&F Council Cabinet Member for Crime & Street Scene
