Temporary Borough Commander Paul McGregor on tackling seasonal increase in crime
I wanted to give you an update about how well we're doing and enlist your help to tackle some of the challenges we face with the seasonal increases that we see every year in respect of burglary, street crime and anti-social behaviour.
Firstly, my team have been busy. In the last 2 weeks, 8 out of our 30 most prolific street criminals have been arrested, and in some cases now face serious charges and have been remanded in custody. My investigators are continuing to build cases against these individuals and I am optimistic that we have made significant progress in establishing a good case for these criminals to answer at court.
We've also identified other opportunities to tackle these individuals and another 4 will be arrested shortly for a variety of matters including non-payment of fines and fraud. We have identified that some of these families are using TV without licenses and we will encourage the appropriate authorities to prosecute these matters as well. Throughout this week, we have had a DVLA clamping unit working in the neighbourhoods where these people live, tackling those who have not paid their vehicle excise license ; a number of clamps were applied. Some offenders may soon be evicted due to them breaching their tenancy conditions. We are making life very uncomfortable for these people.
At the same time we are still encouraging people to take personal responsibility for keeping themselves safe. Many of you may have seen that we have deployed a matrix sign at the top of Battersea High Street, reminding people to look after their phones. Phones are by far the most commonly stolen item on the borough…Love yours and keep it safe.
At this time of year, we also see an increase in anti-social behaviour; mostly young people and children having what they think is fun but in fact causing a nuisance to others. I would ask you to pay particular attention to where your own children are and what they might be doing. Get them to keep trick and treating among friends and family and to remember just how dangerous fireworks can be. I have extra officers out in order to reduce anti-social behaviour and we are doing extremely well at meeting the targets set us by the Commissioner. If you follow our Twitter feed, you may already have seen some information about the law and anti-social behaviour.
Lastly, I will soon be hosting a live event on social-media where you can ask me questions about how well we're doing our job or how policing Wandsworth works. I will send you more details of this in the very near future and look forward to speaking with you at that time.
My best wishes for a safe Autumn season.
Paul McGregor
Temporary Borough Commander
November 1, 2013