Contents:
Sharp Rise In Crime In Our Street
Christmas
Drinks Invitation
Spending
Our Watch Awards Prize Money
Abandoned
Vehicles
Free
Smoke Alarms
Police
Numbers Down
Latest
Crime Reports and Warnings (on NEWSFLASH page)
Sharp Rise In Incidents In Our Street:
In the last
month, there have been two robberies (muggings) as detailed in
the special report I posted to you, and on Saturday 17th November
there were two more incidents.
The first was an attempted burglary further down our block, where
a thief attempted to gain entry by unpicking the leaded glass
panels in a front door.
The second, was damage to a watch member's car, where a tub of
red masonry paint was thrown over the car around 9pm.
Finally, late on Tuesday 20th November a red van was abandoned
in the middle of the road with it's front collapsed and the wheels
hanging off. It was moved to the side of the road the next day
by the Police, and is now awaiting removal by the council.
Did you witness any of these incidents? Have you any information
about who may have been responsible? If so, please report it to
the police immediately.
This spate of crime is very worrying, and we should all be on
our guard, keeping our eyes and ears open. If you see anything
suspicious going on, dial 999 at the time to summon the police.
Information after the event should be passed to Police on 020
8672 9922 (the same number as to report a crime after the event).
Given these events, it's more important than ever that we all
get together so please make an extra special effort to attend
this year's Christmas drinks (see below).
This Year's Christmas Drinks:
This year we will be having a get together and providing drinks
and nibbles from the Watch coffers BUT ONLY IF 12 OR MORE WATCH
MEMBERS CONFIRM THEY ARE ATTENDING!
In the past a poor turnout has spoiled the event, so it won't
go ahead if there is a poor response from neighbours.
The date is WEDNESDAY 12th DECEMBER and we need your response
by one week before that (5th Dec) to decide if it will go ahead.
An invitation and response slip is attached to the paper version
of this newsletter which has been delivered to Watch Members.
Please return it as soon as you can.
Our Sector Officer P.C. Bob Davies should be attending, and staff
from the Council's Watchlink Unit have also been invited.
Details of the time and location are not shown on the website
for security reasons, but can be obtained by simply clicking
here to send an Email asking for the details.
Spending Our Watch Awards Prize Money:
At the Wandsworth
Neighbourhood Watch Awards in March, we won a commendation and
were awarded £150 to spend on Crime Prevention measures for our
area.
As it's far more important to prevent crime than simply report
it once it's happened, we propose to use this money to provide
a crime prevention "library" of literature, property marking devices
and such, which everyone in the Watch can make use of.
A small sum will also be used to fund the continued production
of these newsletters and our website. Please let me have your
views on this at the Christmas drinks.
Abandoned Vehicles:
This is an
increasing problem all over London, and seems to be growing quickly
in our road too - as the dumping of the collapsed red van has
shown only this week.
Wandsworth Council remove these vehicles free of charge. All we
have to do is spot an abandoned vehicle and report it to 020
8871 6709 (give the make, model, colour, registration and
location).
Please do this as soon as you spot a dumped car or van, so that
valuable parking space is not wasted. The Council make checks
before removing vehicles, so do phone them even if you're not
sure a vehicle is abandoned.
Links and contacts for other useful Council Services can be found
on our Links & Contacts
page, or visit the Wandsworth Council Website at www.wandsworth.gov.uk
Free Smoke Alarms / Free Fitting of Smoke Alarms:
Have you fitted
any smoke alarms yet?
At the recent Neighbourhood Watch Seminar, Borough Fire Commander,
Tony Mortimer, urged everyone to do so as a matter of urgency.
A smoke alarm can mean the difference between surviving or perishing
should a fire break out in your house - particularly if you're
asleep at the time.
If you are unable to afford a smoke alarm, or unable to fit one
yourself, the Fire Brigade may be able to help. For details of
free smoke alarms or free fitting, contact Peter at Number 71
Crowborough Rd (if you're in our Watch) or your local fire station
(if you're not). The Fire Brigade may be able to supply a smoke
alarm for free or fit it for you if you cannot afford it, are
elderly, or cannot fit it yourself.
For more fire safety information and web links, see
our Feb 2001 Newsletter.
Police
Numbers Down:
At the Neighbourhood Watch Seminar and at a consultative meeting
the following evening (attended by Lord Toby Harris, chairman
of the Metropolitan Police Authority, local MP Tom Cox, Councillors,
Community Leaders, Members of the Greater London Authority and
Police), Chief Superintendent Martin Jaunch (Borough Police Commander)
gave a worrying presentation.
We were told that there are currently only 516 police officers
in Wandsworth compared to 662 in 1995. Although the borough
should have 546 officers at the moment, that's still 116 less
than in 1995, and current extra Policing of Central London following
September 11th was resulting in officers being "borrowed"
from our borough. He went on to say that the service is so stretched
that there are now no resources to deal with the "low level
disorder" crimes which affect the quality of life in the
borough, and on two occasions recently there has been no officer
available to respond to a 999 call.
Currently Wandsworth is statistically the safest "inner city"
London borough, with burglaries decreasing overall, but street
crime is up 45% and gun crime up 11% (particularly around areas
bordering Lambeth). The only good news was that even with fewer
officers, arrests in the borough were up.
Those present all appealed to Lord Harris to provide more officers
and he reported that this year the Met has the biggest budget
ever (up 10%) which was already delivering more officers to the
boroughs. Recruitment is also on target to bring the force up
to full strength. However concerns were expressed that "full
strength" does not mean a return to the 1995 level, only
to the intended level for this year.
Wandsworth Councillors reported that the council is spending a
huge amount on reducing crime in the borough, including its investment
in Neighbourhood Watch, CCTV (293 cameras currently, with
more than 200 more planned - cameras are currently averaging
one arrest a day) and schemes such as the Burglary Aftercare
Service, in which first-time victims of burglary are visited and
given advice on how to prevent a repeat break in (this has resulted
in Wandsworth having a repeat burglary rate one fifth that
of the national average).
I can only hope more police resources are made available soon,
because it feels as though we are being short changed at the moment.
That's all for this edition - next one due in February 2002!
Crime reports are still being regularly posted on the 'NEWSFLASH'
section of the website - visit regularly for the latest news.
You can also have news and crime reports Emailed to you - just
send me an Email (link below) with 'NEWSFLASH SUBSCRIBE' in the
subject line, and I'll forward items to you as soon as I receive
them.
Have a great Christmas & best wishes for the New Year.
Best Wishes
Andy (Watch Co-Ordinator).
