Borough Commander answers your questions

A question on the distribution of Crime Statistics was submitted this month - Joe Royle the Borough Commander has responded:

The creation of Safer Neighbourhood Teams has also brought about Safer Neighbourhood Forums where interested local residents have a dialogue with their local police.

At these meetings crime statistics are made available.  The crimes that are reported upon are Street Robbery, Burglary (residential and non-residential), motor vehicle crime and theft of pedal cycles.  Certain crimes (street crime and burglary) are reported weekly to the Community Safety Department at the council and these form the basis of the weekly bulletin which is send to all subscribers.

Whilst local residents are interested in these matters they are also interested in assaults in public places and other matters which might have an impact on their day-to-day lives.  Perhaps as a result of this information they might change their route home and stick to the main road.

It is accepted that certain crimes should not be reported to the general public for fear of identifying the victim but there are other incidents which could be reported to interested parties without any breach of confidence.  For instance there was an assault in Putney High Street on 21st January 2006 which has not been reported to residents via the bulletin or mentioned at the Thamesfield Ward meeting, yet I see a request for witnesses in this weeks Borough News.  I also see that there was an assault in Lower Richmond Road on 10th January 2006, again with a request for witnesses, and again this was not in the bulletin or reported at the Ward meeting.

Can we have more crimes (the sanitised version) reported in the weekly bulletin and details made available at ward meetings, particularly assaults in public places etc. please.

JR replies:

Wandsworth police work closely with the council to relay information to the public on subjects of crime and neighbourhood policing.  A weekly bulletin produced by the council lists statistics and information on recent offences and crime trends in the area.

Safer Neighbourhoods is about local policing and the teams on the borough patrol their sectors to clamp down on problems in the community.  The forums provide the opportunity for police and our partner agencies to hear what people are concerned about, and in turn, provide people with safety tips and what they can do to avoid becoming a victim of crime.

Having an open channel of dialogue is vital, but the joint decision on information listed on the weekly bulletin being expanded has been declined.  It is thought that going into specifics on every incident would dilute the statistics and hype the fear of crime.

www.met.police.uk/crimefigures <http://www.met.police.uk/crimefigures>   This is the MPS website which provides a breakdown on crimes on every borough


 

February 9, 2006

Related links
 

JR: If you would like to see how well our Borough is performing then please visit www.met.police.uk/crimefigures
If you click on our borough, and then follow the link to your ward. It's a good site and compares this years figures to
those of last year.

Last months question

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