Concern Growing Over Increase In Youth Crime In Ealing

Incidences of teen muggings being regularly reported on social media platforms

There's widespread concern over an increase in reports of teen crime in Ealing and Acton.

With schools now back after the summer there have been a number of incidents highlighted on social media pages and reported to the police.

A 12-year-old boy was mugged by older teenagers at around 4pm on Sunday (September 22) outside Ealing Broadway shopping centre near Tesco. The pair tried to force the boy to a cash machine to withdraw more money, but the boy ran into a local pub and got help.

The victim's mother told the neighbourhood watch service Ealing Owl: "After taking his cash, they walked him up the road with intention to take him to an ATM as he had a bank card.

"When he got to The Kings Arms on The Grove he ran in and started shouting. Clever boy.

"A customer chased them up the road.''

In Hanwell a group of youths reportedly stole a bike from a teen and there've been a spate of further incidents in Acton, including muggings on Churchfield Road, Horn Lane and Acton Park.

In April concerned residents met with local council representatives and police in Northfields in W5 after a spate of youth crime incidents in the local parks. This led to a (temporary) increase in police numbers in the area.

Police suggest vigilance and advise children to hide phones and expensive earphones.
They also urge all crimes be reported through 'proper' channels.

This message was sent out on social media from the neighbourhood watch service:

''What makes the police be quicker in dealing with crime incidents is when these incidents have been reported and immediately via the proper police reporting channels (101, 999, Met Police website, and @MetCC). All these services have 24/7 paid staff waiting to take your reports and then dispatch them to be dealt with.

Once this is done, please let us know via OWL and include the crime reference no. We remain most grateful to everyone who has turned a difficult personal experience into an opportunity to help prevent crime whether this has been shared directly or it has been passed onto us via Social Media.

However, there have been several cases across the Borough whereby crimes have been posted on Facebook or Nextdoor but the Police have not been contacted.

Failure to report a crime results in a reduction in recorded crime, which leads to fewer officers and hence a further rise in crime.

It may appear that posting on social media is quicker than calling or logging an incident online on the Met’s site but to be clear the Police cannot react to reports posted on Facebook, Nextdoor, or shared privately via Whatsapp.

Depending on the severity of the case, there were many occasions and on a daily basis when the police arrived within 2 minutes of the 999 call. From a personal experience, the last one was this past Sunday.

Everyone, we are counting on you to please report all incidents and suspicious activities to the police first.''

24th September 2019