Forum Topic

MEETING WITH POLICE & RESIDENTS ON CRIME IN THIS AREA ALL WELCOME

A meeting is being held on Monday 13th June at 6.30pm In the Lord Nelson Public House Enfield Road. This meeting has been arranged by Councilor Patrick Edwards and will be attended by Inspector Lindsay Hannigan who is responsible for Policing in this area If you like many of us have been a victim of crime this your chance to tell both the Local Authority and the Police what you think should be done to cut the appalling levels of crime that residents are suffering

Robert Ayres ● 7275d15 Comments

1.  What happened to neighbourhood watch?  In this area it fizzled out after a big start and signs being placed on lampposts.  Attempts to start it up again over the years met with poor response from the Police - they didn't have funding or something, or maybe somebody can remember what happened.2.  Has anyone tried to talk to the groups/teens to find out what is going on and what they would like by way of support?  We used to have problems with older teens in the park which used to be in Quaker Lane, beside Marlborough School, and a group of Governors went out and met with the group (brilliant) and struck an agreement with them over the care of the park.Are the middle teens represented in any way in these meetings?  In the run up to the elections the only people who appeared interested in this age group were the Lib/Dems.  What did they find out from their questionnaires sent to local youth and from their meetings inside the schools?3.  In early May the schools turf out the 16 year olds for 'study leave'.  A number of the teens will be able to sit at home and work without supervision ... ... what happens to the others?  Is this part of the reason why there is a build up of wild behaviour in May/June?  Does it add to other age groups bunking off school, to be a part of this gang?  If the gang does not have normal parental supervision, how does it react when given all this extra free time?  If some of these children do not intend carrying on with full time education and maybe will not even go in for their exams - surely they should be attending some sort of other classes to help them consider their options, maybe even try tasters of skill training classes?  Surely something should be laid on for this age group - at this transitional time in their lives, and straight away.

Sarah Felstead ● 7257d

The ICSF meetings are quite positive towards local Policing Sarah but we have been very lucky with first PC Beale and now PC McClean attending every time they are invited.Obviously feelings can run high when residents feel they are being let down by the local police but many feel a little more reassured when the local Beat Officer is mostly aware of particular problems.I must admit to sometimes being frustrated when the more senior Police Officers who have agreed to attend send their apologies as they should be accountable to our concerns but at least we are making major progress these days as a community wanting to work with the Police as a common goal.

Paul Fisher ● 7257d

...are meetings such as this one, the best way of forming the important relationships between community groups and the Police?  Who decides who is invited, and for what purpose do you all meet?  I just wonder if the Police get told to go, and whether it is the best use of their time?  Do you end up with genuine results which everyone is happy with, and can take forward, or is it another method of taking pot shots at the Police?  Do the right people attend who can make a difference?

Sarah Felstead ● 7258d

Would you mind if i attended Cllr Edwards(work permitting) in my capacity as a committee member of the Isleworth Community Safety Forum?All avenues of crime prevention are in my opinion a great thing and i am sure the ICSF could gain some positives from this meeting.

Paul Fisher ● 7258d

I attach a note send to all residents on Enfield Walk, Enfield Road and the surrounding streets on the meeting tonight. I hope that this will help in clarfiying further the ground that we hope to cover this evening and throughout the year ahead.Meeting with Inspector Lindsay Hannigan on responding to local crime, Monday 13th June, 6.30pm, Lord Nelson Public House, Enfield Road. I do hope that you will be able to come to this important meeting that I have arranged with residents of Enfield Walk to discuss local people’s experiences of crime and the best means to tackle it. Many people have contacted me over recent months with concerns over anti social behaviour, graffiti, and burglary. Concerns have also been raised about the extent to which people’s experiences of crime in the locality are being accurately reported and if local priorities are being reflected in the police operations.Inspector Lindsay Hannigan from Brentford Police Station will join us at the meeting which I hope will provide positive ways forward to make our streets safe and maintain the local community confidence in the policing service we receive. I extend a warm welcome to you to find the time to attend this important gathering and look forward to meeting you.

Patrick Edwards ● 7258d

Good luck with the meeting Robert and if you need any help or advice etc in the future please do not hesitate to contact us at the Isleworth Community Safety Forum.icsf2004@yahoo.comhttp://icsf.biz/RegardsPaul

Paul Fisher ● 7258d

Hi Sarah. There is no agenda for this meeting as such. It is an open forum to give residents the chance to put there questions direct to the officer in charge of this area. Many of us are more than unhappy with standard of policing and are fed up being told that the crime stats show a reduction when we the people on the ground see no improvment at all and in fact realise that crime is getting much worse. Anyway hope you make the meeting it will be interesting.

Robert Ayres ● 7258d

Do you have a copy of the agenda for this meeting?  Would you post it here?  Thanks,

Sarah Felstead ● 7258d

In Isleworth there is also the Isleworth Community Safety Forum (ICSF), the last meeting of which attracted over fifty people including the community beat officer, traders, The Isleworth Society, residents' representatives from most parts of Isleworth and the three elected councillors for Isleworth ward.Whether or not the ICSF can be considered to be "relating to the council" is unclear, as the council is always invited, never attends but has never formally "unrecognised" the forum, preferring to make half-baked excuses for non-attendance than to take any kind of principled position one way or the other.When the ICSF was under the previous (political) management the council's community officer was a regular attendee and enthusiastic contributor to the process. Incidentally, as it happens I wholeheartedly agree with Patrick's comments about pro-active engagement on policing issues as opposed to seat-warming at a talking shop, but I don't think he has completely explained why he was so resolute in his determination to hang on to his place when he was first challenged about it by Cllr. Oulds.  Was he just winding the man up?  A very dangerous thing to do, I would have thought!

Phil Andrews ● 7275d

Paul, important correction first. I had resigned from the Police Consultative Committee before Cllr Ould misfired at me, so I don't think its quite right to say that I obstructed his progress. Subsequent events revealing Cllr Oulds gun lust on the pages of The Sun did more damaging  then anything I did or could have ever  dreamt up!As for the committee itself I am reminded of that methodist saying 'condemn the sin but save the sinner'. The consultative committee has a role but I do not think that it will achieve a fraction of the advances in policing services that my constituents are calling for without a stronger and direct mechanism of local accountability. Any way lets not digress from the main issue which is the meeting on 13th June which I hope will be a means where local residents can talk frankly about crime concerns and we can take matters positively forward.

Patrick Edwards ● 7275d

A very interesting and i must say concise posting Cllr but i am still confused as to why you were on the Police Consultative Group committee in the first place?You did not hold it any great regard yet you hindered others who perhaps had a greater interest in the Group from replacing you ie Cllr Oulds (which in hindsight was not a bad thing i suppose) by not resigning.

Paul Fisher ● 7275d

Sarah in essence there are two major police bodies relating to the council. There is the Police Consultative Committee which is a forum for the Chief Inspector and his crime prevention team to update a cross section of agencies on policing and crime matters. The other body is the Community Safety and Crime Reduction Partnership Committee. This body involves the local police and the council's Community Safety Unit and draws on the involvement of a number of other local state units i.e. Primary Care Trust (PCT). They over see and review the progress of the Community Safety plan which the council have a legal duty to produce and monitor specific crime reduction initiatives. The police do hold a range of informal consultations with residents and you are right to point to  poor attendance levels. Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that most residents are wise to the fact that there is very little to be expected from these encounters - i.e. my earlier point about the absence of direct accountability.

Patrick Edwards ● 7275d

Can somebody outline the different Police meetings being run within the borough? Is this a new one?  It is often commented on, within postings on this forum, that the existing meetings are often poorly attended by some community representatives.  I feel for the Police who always send appropriate representation, to show that they take liaison with the local community, seriously.

Sarah Felstead ● 7275d

Paul I hope will see the difference between a meeting with local residents to discuss real crime concerns and the discussions at a higher level of abstraction that occupy the minds of the Police Consultative Group. In fact it is the shortcomings of this body - and its very philosophy -  which have bought about the need for this meeting. I have been struck during my time as a councillor by the absence of serious scrutiny on policing activities and delivery on the ground and the imperviousness of informing these actions by input of local residents concerns. The situation on and around Enfield Road typifies this. I believe that it is not beyond the wit of the police service in the ward to provide a bespoke, flexible service that deals with specific crime situations. The incidents of anti social behaviour, criminal damage and vanadalism on Enfield Walk and its environs requires a sustained, targeted and high profile response from the police. But  moves in this direction are constantly frustrated by the alibi of 'insufficient resources'. The Home Affairs Select Committee Report into the police service earlier this year suggests other reasons - management of resources and hidebound structures was pinpointed as major shortcomings in the delivery of an effective service. Hounslow residents do not want to be 'consulted' about policing arrangements but need to be directly involved in shaping their priorities and resources. In fact my party recently suggested that establishing systems for local accountability of senior officers similar to that in the USA - i.e. electing the chief inspector - would be one way of cementing accountability to the core of policing arrangements. I think this is the quality of the relations that people in the borough need with the local police and it is certainly the spur behind the meeting with Enfield Road residents and Inspector Hannigan. Can I also say that I have met residents in Enfield Walk at least three time on this issue since December 04, set up a number of site meetings with the police, Thames Valley Housing and the Comunity Safety Unit to look at improving lighting and target hardening around the area, and have had meetings with Inspecor Hannigan about improving police operations in the area. I have sent a detailed letter to Hounbslow Chief Inspector to interrogate further the issue of resource management and I will post a copy of it on this site. I have also been working closely with Bob Ayres, a resident on Enfield Walk, in the planning of this meeting. Amazing what you can fit in when you when you take a night off from being a corporate eunuch and act instead as the facilitator for a strong community voice on poicing matters! In fact, I think that's what people in Brentford elected me to do.

Patrick Edwards ● 7275d

Well done to all concerned but are you sure that Cllr Edwards will attend as his 100% non attendance at the Police Consultative Group meetings speaks volumes.In fact he was quoted at the time as follows,"You don't fight crime by sitting around a committee table".

Paul Fisher ● 7275d