Westfield London
£4 million for Britain's first 24/7 beat policing squads
Britain’s first two round-the-clock neighbourhood police teams have been pounding the streets of Shepherds Bush and Fulham for the past 18 months.
H&F Council, together with Westfield London and the Fulham NDC, has provided the Police with an additional £4 million, over the two year trial, to boost the number of Bobbies on the beat.
This means that, instead of having the usual one sergeant, two police constables and three police community support officers (PCSOs), residents in the two zones have one inspector, five sergeants, ten police constables and fifteen PCSOs patrolling day and night.
The trials are producing extremely positive results with crime tumbling in both Fulham and Shepherds Bush. A study into the first year of the scheme shows 223 fewer victims of crime in the two 24/7 zones. On top of this strong performance, the report also shows that when you put more Bobbies on the ground you detect more crime and lock-up more criminals.
Councillor Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Crime & Anti-social behaviour, says: “Not only is the number of victims of crime being cut but we are catching more criminals – particularly drug-users and drug-dealers. We are also intercepting more knives and weapons before they are used.
“Some critics have argued that crime has not fallen enough in the past 12 months but the reality is that if a drug addict buys crack from a dealer on a street corner neither of them are going to report each other to the Police. It is a so-called ‘victimless’ crime. But it is not. Drugs ruin lives and fuel more crime.
“When we catch these destructive criminals, with our 24/7 beat Bobbies, this ‘creates’ a new crime on the statistics. It doesn’t mean crime is going up. It means we are catching more criminals and locking them up.”
Page last updated: 31/10/2008
