Forum Topic

Residents"You are being shortchanged in your Policing" says local Police Chief

At the Civic Centre tonight..at the Borough Community Police Consultative Group meeting....it was announced that Chief Superintendent Jeff Harris,Hounslow's Police chief will be moving to a new post outside thr Borough in January.The meeting had just started when the announcement was made...and the Chairman praised Jeff for his outstanding service...both on the Committee...and in the Community. Jeff was given a standing ovation.He certainly has come over as a very personable and communicative person and his departure will be a great loss. No new appointment has yet been made.At the end of the meeting...when Jeff was summarising his thoughts on the Hounslow Policing..I could hardly believe my ears...and started to scribble frantically ..as he said that "you (Hounslow's boroughwide citizens) have been shortchanged in your policing.""We should have 495 officers to fulfill our line up..and sometimes we have been up to 9% down"  (40?) "At the moment we have 481..We are below staff level"  " We are a very undersatffed Borough""Too often we lose staff so that they can cover duties outside the Borough...sometimes 14 Borough Officers are missing in this way."Some local Boroughs in London are OVERSTAFFED with Police..and yet sometime their numbers are not depleted in the same way for external duties.Jeff said...(this our Hounslow Police Chief)..."I have banged heads...and made noise..to higher authority..but without success"When my officers have to leave the Borough for these other duties ..it means that there are less officers available for work in Hounslow"  "I have over £200,000 of dosh allocated for Police Pay...but I cannot get staff allocated to me (I think that what he said)Jeff...really cracking on with wizzo lines...said that WE ALL "should be challenging our MP's (cough cough)...our Councillors...(the MPA?)and voice his and our concern"  A letter to the Commissioner of Police was also suggested.Its 11.30..I need to go out for an hour..there's lots more to report.PS No ChiswickW4.com members attended..except me and Sally Henfield  writing (properly) from BC&I Times....and all those seats and sandwiches had been laid on!!!!

Jim Lawes ● 7466d21 Comments

Jim With the greatest of respect, we are told that crime figures are down time after time. What we are not told is that 'tinkering' of crime figures by the Home Office means that many offences which in the past would have been taken into account, are no longer considered to be worthy of inclusion within the stats.

Gareth Evans ● 7451d

Sally: thanks for the info. and keep up the good work.Whilst the police report that crime figures are down ..and suggest that there is no need for anyone to worry about anything, the prospective candidates for Heston local elections...and the new Lib Dem/Conservative MP's in waiting(!) put crime at the top of their lists of matters to be attended to!! Odd that.

Jim Lawes ● 7451d

Jim,Have answered you on chiswickw4 so I thought i'd better answer you here too!Yes Sean (Chiswick) and Matt(Brentford) attend the meetings, in fact I have just seen Matt down there this morning. (Incidently there is NEVER a queue at the Chiswick station on a Tuesday morning if you want to report a crime there!) The meetings cover the whole of the borough and we get given the CCTV pics there too - most stuff is usually from Hounslow and Feltham.

Sally Henfield ● 7451d