There are two main elements to
the role of Safer Neighbourhood officers. Firstly to impact on the
perception people have of the area in which they live. I can throw
statistics at you all day but what is important is that when you or
your family are in and around Crouch End do you feel safer?...... Do you notice police officers and Community Support Officers around the area? Do you feel informed about
what is actually happening? The second element is the hard facts about
what has happened. The two are inextricably linked and I would hope
that facts ( e.g. the number of street robberies reported to police in Crouch End since 1st September this year is 1, compared to 17 for the same period last year)
will help to shape those perceptions. We have worked closely with the
Highgate wood school and the Borough robbery unit since the start of
term as research showed us that this time of year traditionally led to
an increase in student robberies. I have delivered 'Personal Safety'
presentations to students and we have conducted coordinated patrols
with the robbery squad at peak times. That is one of the success
stories, and as robbery is one of the teams' priorities it is
particularly heartening.
It is not all rosy though. Residential burglary has remained relatively static over
the months since April 1st to the end of September as compared to last
year with 1 more offence being reported. This could be worse but we
would really like to reduce this figure and reduce the number of Crouch
End residents becoming victims of burglary. As you can see from the
offences below October has been a busy month too. Please have a read of the crime prevention information included as
it is very much with us all working together that we can have the
biggest impact on local crime. We continue to hold our road checks and
last week we held a property marking event on the ward, all aimed at
increasing awareness and preventing offences.
Reported crime has reduced
significantly for the months April to September 2009 as compared to the
same period last year. There are substantial reductions in robbery,
criminal damage, crimes of violence, thefts from shops, thefts of
vehicles and non-residential burglary. The only (numerically)
significant category of crime showing an increase (other than the 1%
for residential burglary) is theft from motor vehicle, however October
has seen a reduction in these offences.
The importance of the role you play in achieving these reductions is obvious. Recently residents of Broadway Parade off
Felix Avenue organised a 'Clean - up' day. They hired skips and twenty
plus local people worked very hard to remove weeds, rubbish and
generally tidy up the street. It now looks well cared for and there is
a lot of evidence to suggest that areas that are obviously 'looked
after' tend to attract less crime and less Anti social behaviour. I
know the exercise took a lot of work and organisation by the residents
and involved assistance from councillors and council departments but I
am sure all those involved would agree it was worth it. The key is now
to maintain the area in its present state and for us to do our bit to
support the efforts by ensuring past issues do not return to affect the
area again. If you feel your road, close, block could benefit from
similar attention then do get in touch and I can assist in pointing you
in the right direction for getting things started........
As you will see below there
has been too many burglaries this month (those shown are from Oct 1st
to 28th) however the robbery and vehicle figures are more
encouraging....
Burglary
Ferme Park Road 2/10/09 0200 - 0645 window in front door smashed Purse
Weston Park 2/10/09 0100 - 0900 rear door insecure Briefcase / Laptop
Ferme Park Road 2/10/09 2030 - 0800 front door (not forced) Handbag
Gladwell Road 9/10/09 0255 front door tampered with NO ENTRY GAINED
Coleridge Road 10/10/09 0100 rear window forced No property taken
Cecile Park 15/10/09 0305 front window forced DVD player
Tregaron Avenue 15/10/09 1615 - 1820 rear window forced Jewellery
Clifton Road 15/10/09 2250 front window forced No property taken
Cecile Park 17-18/10/09 1930 - 0300 front window smashed Laptop
Crouch Hall Road 19/10/09 0930 - 2000 rear window smashed Cash
Crouch End Hill 22/10/09 0800 - 1830 front door damaged NO ENTRY GAINED
Berkeley Road 24/10/09 0200 - 2200 internal flat door forced Computer
Christchurch Road 25/10/09 1750 - 2135 window forced Computer
There are a significant number of these offences which have taken place overnight.
I have included some general Met Police advice issued at the re-launch
of operation Bumblebee recently and really would recommend that you
check your security measures and contact the team if you have any
questions.
Police urge people to use mortice locks
Police are urging people to fit and use mortice deadlocks to prevent
homes becoming a target for burglars.
This warning follows a report from a member of the public, who found
paper inside their mortice deadlock. Police are concerned this may
be a method used by burglars to establish if a mortice lock is being used.
We
want to take this opportunity to remind people of the importance of
using mortice locks. It is a simple way of preventing your home
being a victim of burglary. A rim latch (Yale type) on its own is not
sufficient. The door should also be fitted preferably with a 5 lever
mortice
deadlock, which should always be used.
<<Mortice Lock.jpg>>
The warning comes as the Met announces the return of operation Bumblebee, which will support operational activity to tackle an increase in
burglaries across London.
Police in Haringey are conducting intelligence led patrols,
intelligence led stop and search, search warrants and ANPR (automatic
number
plate recognition) operations, as well as crack house closures and drugs warrants.
Police
are also working in partnership with Haringey Council on number of
burglary reduction projects including the completion of security
surveys and the upgrading of security where appropriate.
Here are other ways to prevent your home becoming a target:
- Use timer switches on lights to make it look like you are at home when you are out
- Break up the
boxes that contained all those shiny electrical items and put them in
your recycling bin (so you are not advertising what new
- items you have to thieves)
- Take this
opportunity to register any new electrical items on Immobilise.com (so
that if they do get stolen, you have more chance of getting
- them back and we have more chance of catching criminals)
- Keep your doors and windows closed and locked when you leave home.
- Lock ladders
and tools away, so they can't be used to break into your or your
neighbours home. be vigilant and if you see anyone acting
- suspiciously
dial 999 (we have had a number of good arrests as a result of residents
calling us to report a burglar on the scene).
Robbery
As mentioned above there have been no robberies of personal property reported on the ward in October. We have had a couple of commercial robberies though. One from a shop in the Broadway during which a suspect was detained by the staff and arrested and charged with theft. The other was from a security guard in Park Road.
Two men took a cash box from him although no weapons were seen or
intimated. The two men made off in what was believed to be a silver
coloured BMW.
Vehicle Crime
Another
encouraging month with regard to vehicle offences. Last October we had
50+ offences reported. Up to today (28th) there have been 15 reported
this month, a trend we would very much like to continue.
Other news
It will come as little
surprise that the end of October and beginning of November historically
see a rise in instances of Anti social behaviour. To combat this the
team will be working late into the evening on the significant dates
over this period. On 31st October we will be around until midnight to
ensure that those who want to enjoy Halloween can do so safely and that
those who want to cause annoyance to others are dealt with as quickly
as possible. We have visited all the shops selling eggs and other items
favoured by those intent on mischief to encourage them to sell
responsibly! We will be patrolling the ward so if you do have any
problems please call us and we will do our best to respond promptly.
This ties in with the Not In My Neighbourhood Week which
runs from the 2 to 6 November and aims to promote what is
being done locally to tackle crime and anti-social
behaviour and encourages the police, public services and communities to
work together to
keep our streets safe. We are keen for residents to have their say and
are promoting surgeries and meetings taking place
during the week. In addition to this we are involved in the following
activity during Not In My Neighbourhood Week:
At 6.00pm on Wednesday 4th November I will be at the Clock Tower in The Broadway until around 7.00pm and would
invite you to come along and voice any concerns you have regarding
crime or anti social behaviour issues. During this week we
will also be conducting 'weapons sweeps' in strategic locations to
identify any concealed weapons and will be visiting all of the
appropriate retail outlets reminding them of their responsibilities
regarding the sale of fireworks and potential weapons.
We
really want everyone, particularly the children, to feel happy and safe
to enjoy these dates of celebration in the manner that is
intended and not feel intimidated or uncomfortable.
I held another street surgery during the week in Fairfield Road. We leafleted three roads letting people know that I would be there
and inviting them to meet and discuss their local concerns. There was a
steady trickle rather than a torrent of residents however
there were issues discussed that brought things to our attention which
is always useful. We do share information with other
agencies in addition to police units and these links all go towards the
bigger picture of making things even better in Crouch End.
We have had a couple of calls regarding a scam recently.
A young lad has called at doors requesting sponsorship for
a 'penalty shoot out' stating it was in aid of NSPCC. The
form produced was apparently amateurish and enquiries revealed,
unsurprisingly, that this was not an authorised event. Please be aware
of callers to the door.
If you see or hear anything
you are worried about please ring us and let us know. Obviously if it
is an emergency ring 999 but if it is firework or Halloween related
anti social behaviour then we would really like to know.
The up side of working from
4.00pm on Saturday is that I will be able to watch Spurs thrash Arsenal
at lunchtime before I come to work......... well I will be able to
watch them play against them anyway........so long as my little one
doesn't want to go and kick leaves or race around the cricket pitch! On
second thoughts I think I'd rather do that!
Have a good and safe weekend
Best wishes
31 October 2009
31 October 2009
29 October 2009
16 October 2009
13 October 2009
8 October 2009
