Question 1 – Hi, In Welldon Crescent HA1, (outside the Welldon Centre) we have a huge drugs dealing problem with regular drive by drop offs and other dealings. I have called the Police a few times and left messages asking for them to get back to me. Unfortunately, they are not responding so I’m not sure it’s high on their list of priorities. Many of my other neighbours have witnessed it and feel it is time something is done. I have many photos and videos of the culprits with car registrations. On Friday afternoon, 28th Sept 2018, I managed to get a photo of a deal going down and a Police car drove passed slowly. It eventually stopped a few yards up the road for about 5 seconds and then drove off. If you would like to see the picture I can send it in. Can you please let me know what is being done to combat this increasing crime and why the Police do not appear to be interested in tackling this problem?

Police Response: Welldon Crescent is high on Greenhill SNTs priorities and officers are down there on a regular basis. Working with the council to try to get hold of all the owners of the garages there which is where the problems are occurring as the plan is to get them all knocked down (this will of course take time).

We are also getting a camera installed there on one of the lamp posts…this was attempted the other day by the contractor, but due to a redesign of lamp posts recently, there was no available electricity point to be able to connect the camera up. This is being addressed and we hope to have electric and the camera in the next week or so.

Question 2 – In the 80’s the borough had 5 ACTIVE POLICE STATIONS, South Harrow, West Harrow, Pinner, Edgware and Wealdstone covered by cars motorcycles and foot police. Today the population is 26,000 and rising hence the police cannot cope with the increase in crime Secondly travelling time from BARNET MEANS LONG TRAVELLING TIME.

Police Response: The stations have been closed for efficiency reasons. That money saved has been re-invested in police officers across the area. Officers covering Harrow will be patrolling out of Wembley Police station and several cars will be tasked as a default patrol to the various areas across the borough. This means that they will be patrolling these areas when not answering calls from the public.

 

Question 3 – Can we get the CCTV company that monitors the bottom of Locket Road to monitor the whole of the road. We have people stealing from our property whilst being in the house, we have people throwing their rubbish and furniture on the road and drug dealing on the corner of Locket Road. The company that sells on Locket road, would be happy to do it if the council permitting an area or permit for their customers to park for a short while. The parking restrictions impact their business, but their business can help keep our area safer, in turn it would help create a community feel which is key to keeping Harrow Safer.

Police Response: Malborough SNT has this area as part of their patrolling focus. They are working with local businesses to try and come up with a solution to this problem.

 

Question 4 – Do we have Police in civil uniform patrolling areas in Harrow? I think they would do better.

Police Response: The local authority have civil enforcement officers who are out in uniform if that is to whom you are referring. They can enforce local bye laws and parking regulations.

Question 5 – Following recent incident in Harrow on 2 consecutive days with a large group of youths ,increase in knife crimes and gang related activities what intervention s have been put in place to protect residents especially how are you engaging with youth?

Police Response: NPT Inspector has liaised with Business Improvement District (BID) and the head of security in St Georges / St Anne’s. Suggested tactics for them is to switch Wi-Fi off at key times and the only allow a few school children at a time into the eating area. Signage to be placed in area. Dispersal zones at key times especially at half terms if intel allows. NPT patrol at half term and historically we had teachers out in a carrier with police to ID youths.

We are utilising the BID information sharing system (DISC) which talks to all businesses in the town centre and getting the schools to be part of this system (ongoing). Officers have attended schools with CCTV footage to ID key offenders (which we have) and in process of banning orders and CPN’s with the council and businesses for those key offenders.

Current measures in place to address
*Safer Schools officers have gained the CCTV footage and shown school staff, to see if those involved can be identified.
*Working with other schools to inform the children of how their behaviours impacts on other town centre users, educating the children in the penalties they could receive if caught behaving in a similar way.
*ASB assemblies in various schools which we are incorporating this into (autumn nights)
*Early stages of trying to set up an event (pending funding agreement) at Harrow Vue Cinema on county lines and gangs, for council workers, school staff and police officers.
*Funding secured from the SNB board for an SOS project to help reduce knife crime – taking school kids the Ben Kinsella project in Islington, St Giles trust will also be coming into schools and individual sessions with the Sammi Shaquan Plummer foundation (again a knife crime charity).
*In additions Safer Schools officers are carrying out regular proactive patrols in the town centre. There have also been a number weapon sweeps around the town centre schools

Future plans –

In future the combined schools and youth engagement team for the NW BCU (Harrow, Barnet and Brent) will go live on the 12th November, this will have a far larger team strength across the 3 boroughs than is currently in place. This will provide us with the ability to flex resources to meet large scale issues which arise, but retaining local responsibility and knowledge for ongoing issues.
Harrow will be getting an enhanced Schools team along with access to the newly created (proactive) Youth Engagement Team. This increase in resources will allow us to greatly improve our reactive and proactive capability around issues such as those mentioned. The schools and youth engagement portfolio will seek to address ongoing and emerging concerns working in conjunction with external stakeholders and partners with events and activities.

Question 6 – Why do police allow the rampant drug dealing, anti social behaviour and street drinking to carry on despite it being concerns of so many residents of Wealdstone?

Police Response: There is so much going on in this area. Council / Police had a public meeting three months ago – actions stemmed from that I have put on several dispersal zones and flexed officers into the area. PC Chris Miller was badly assaulted when arresting a key drug dealer a month ago.
Had a business meeting signposting them with actions.

BID to give a presentation on the DISC system as sharing of good practise. Days of action working with licensing, council, Drug and alcohol support groups , trading standards, CCTV etc – one was on the 21st Sept and another will be before Christmas.

Below is an overview of Police activity for Sep / Oct re the above question.

Street Drinkers – since the alcohol exclusion zone ran out the issue has become worse. Now there is a Public spaces protection order where it is only an offence to drink if the person continues to drink after being told not to by a constable. The majority of people are compliant and stop when asked to. While many drinkers are transitory to the area, a few are persistent. The persistent people have their names passed on to the council who issues a CPN. This has helped manage the issue though not eliminate it. A Street drinking prevention Week is being planned alongside the council towards the end of November. They will be putting out flyers and leaflets around Wealdstone for the campaign.

Dispersal zones have been put in place, once we get enough ASB complaints, I apply for another.
03/Oct 14:00hrs until 14:00hrs 05/Oct – 2 dispersed, 1 Arrest for breach.
21/ Sep 1000hrs until 1000hrs 23/Sep
19/Sep 1000hrs until 1000hrs 21/Sep – 1 dispersed
17/ Sep 1000hrs, until 1000hrs 19/Sep. – 6 dispersed
07/Sep 1200hrs, until 1200hrs 09/Sep. – 3 dispersed.

Drug Dealers – mainly loiter in Peel Road (next to the youth centre), Gladstone Way, High Street and Palmerston Road. Main way of dealing with the issue is patrolling the area, noting who we see.
However some of our street dealers now have CBOs not to be in the area.
Arrests in Wealdstone Area related to Drugs and street Violence – September / October – 28 arrests total
Possession of Class B 12             Possession of Class C
GBH 7                                           ABH/Common assault 2
PWITS 1
Breach of CBO 3
Breach of dispersal 1
Vehicle interference 1

Weapons
Weapon sweeps are conducted regularly, STT also assist in this and weapons are found on occasion.
Latest – 28/10/2018
Two large Rambo knives and a knuckle duster secreted in guttering on Peel Road, Wealdstone. These were hidden behind Lloyds Banks in guttering to the adjoining property.

Additional
There has been 30 Stop & searches in Wealdstone since September.
141 intelligence reports in Marlborough/Wealdstone since September.

Question 7 – A few years ago, our car was stolen from our front drive. After that we received a PCN for the stolen car. the car was never found. As the car parking attendants now use ticketing device which are connected to computers, is there any system whereby when a parking attendant is issuing a ticket, it alerts them that car is stolen. And they would immediately inform the police of the whereabouts of the car stolen.

Police Response: This is in process in some areas and I believe that there is a process in place in Harrow to achieve this.

Question 8 – Increase in burglaries in Pinner area, especially while residents are in properties. Advice needed, what’s actions being taken, and should smart water not be rolled out through the borough.

Police Response: We have just concluded Autumn Nights we are now working on Winter Nights which highlights burglary prevention. Working closely with council and communications around this.

SmartWater is rolled out across the area and we are targeting specific areas as defined using predicative mapping. In the last 4 weeks there have been 11 burglaries in Pinner and Pinner South wards out of 169 burglaries across the borough. Harrow was 11th out of the 32 boroughs in the Met for this time frame.

Question 9 – Sir, over last two weeks, I have not had a single day where i went to bed without getting a message from a friend or a community member of being robbed or subjected to aggravated burglary. We have not only been robbed of our belongings but also our sense of security and rights to safety. Three or more burglary happens in the same neighbourhood and response from Police is that ‘they may visit next day’. Sir, what exactly is Police waiting for? Because if this goes wrong it will go very wrong and you will be responsible for it.

Police Response:
Crime figures in last 4 weeks
Burglaries                                     Robberies
Barnet 296                                    Barnet 51
Brent 175                                      Brent 87
Harrow 168 (7 aggravated)          Harrow 22

If the suspect are no longer present then the call handler will ask the victim if an appointment would be more convenient. If not then the expectation is that an officer will attend within an hour under normal circumstances.

Question 10 – What are you doing in the community to help prevent knife and gun crime, because they are becoming more blatant and frequent.
+++ What measures are currently being taken to combat the sudden increase in knife crime and gun crime?

Police Response:
2 allegations of GEC (aggravated burglary – drug deal gone wrong – Albanian male absconded. WM) (female challenged people smoking drugs and male told her he could do what he wanted and to go back inside before he shot her. No firearm seen)
Violent Crime Task Force have been present in the borough and will be supporting us for the next 6 months.

Proactive officers under Supt Clark are trying a new way of working focussing on Engagement, Education, Enforcement.

Volunteer Police Cadets are doing a significant amount of work including test purchase operations against retainers who sell knives to under age children. Follow them on Twitter @HarrowVPC

No Knives, Better Lives sessions with young people held at the Central Criminal Court:
– for the first 3 sessions we had 106 participate of which 32 came to notice again following the sessions. 70% diversion rate.

And of those who came to notice, only 5.6% (6 people) were for knife enabled crimes. 94.4% diversion away from knife crime.

Crimes in the last 4 weeks
Knife Enabled Crime            Gun Enabled Crime
Barnet 21                               Barnet 5
Brent 45                                 Brent 7
Harrow 13                              Harrow 2

Question 11 – In a time of uncertainty, how can you ensure that troubled areas in Harrow are being given enough support for policing, how can violent offences involving weapons be allowed to happen and when can we expect a boost in police numbers for our borough.

Police Response:
With the merger there is an opportunity to do more proactivity.
VCTF (Violent Crime Task Force) asset on the BCU as well at TSG – posted into targeted areas
In the last 4 weeks across the 3 boroughs the proactive teams have:
Executed 42 warrants
Arrested 41 gang members, 9 of whom carry knives
Arrest 34 other people non gang members
Removed 8 knives from the streets and one handgun

Question 12 – Whilst we all appreciate the service the Police give us, there has been much publicity in regards to the cuts in budgets. The road where we live in, Bromefield, is experiencing increased criminal activity, which ‘could’ be attributed to the reduction in head count of officers and the SNT in the Ward. With the introduction of the BCU and the cuts in budget, our road (and others) are feeling increasingly more vulnerable at the moment, what comfort can you give us all that the introduction of the BCU strategy is going to allay our fears, manage the increase in crime and allow officers to attend calls in a more timely fashion or in fact at all going forward when you are stretching fewer resources over a larger area?

Police Response:
Bromfield Road is in Belmont ward.
Cuppa with a Copper – Cannons Community Centre 15th Nov and 23rd Nov 1.30pm-2.30pm
PS Rob Bolton
PC Philip Bristow, PC Richard Davies and PCSO Ken Southern
Please speak to your local NPT who will pay you a visit and offer advice

Question 13 – Why does the Metropolitan Police keep an expensive shop in Stanmore next door to Boots the Chemist when resources are strained? What purpose does the shop provide?

Police Response: Bases are at a reduced cost and have been position in locations from where they can patrol effectively.
However, these bases are being reviewed and everyone will likely be patrolling from Harrow in the not too distant future.

Question 14 – When will we see ‘Bobbies on the beat’ again. They were part of our communities and definitely helped to reduce crime.

Police Response: DWO (Dedicated Ward Officers) are those Bobbies on the Beat.

Question 15 – We live in a cul-de-sac and we have a person who relies on Heroin and we have cars flying up and down our street serving this person and screeching backward sand forwards at all hours. I have reported this a registration of vehicle and a cad had been raised. what we doing about it We are losing confidence in the police as you are to distant from the public locking yourselves in cars and vans. we need the WASP teams back and patrolling the streets to talk to the public and get into the fabric of the areas they patrol .

Police Response: (PENDING)

Question 16 – How can we protect ourselves if a burglar enters my home and I am with my children?

Police Response:
Section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967 provides that: (1) A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders or of persons unlawfully at large.

Lord Morris in Palmer v R (1971) stated the following about someone confronted by an intruder or defending himself against attack:
“If there has been an attack so that defence is reasonably necessary, it will be recognised that a person defending himself cannot weigh to a nicety the exact measure of his defensive action. If the jury thought that in a moment of unexpected anguish a person attacked had only done what he honestly and instinctively thought necessary that would be the most potent evidence that only reasonable defensive action had been taken…”

“reasonable force”
the defendant does not have the right to determine this because they would always maintain that they had acted reasonably and thus would never be guilty. The jury, as ordinary members of the community, must decide the amount of force reasonable in the circumstances of the case even allowing for mistakes made in a crisis, the amount of force must be proportionate and reasonable given the value of the interests being protected and the harm likely to be caused by use of force.

The modern law on belief is stated in R v Owino (1992):
” A person may use such force as is [objectively] reasonable in the circumstances as he [subjectively] believes them to be. ”

where a Man was unable to claim his excessive force against his wife’s assault was subjectively reasonable

To gain an acquittal, the defendant must fulfil a number of conditions. The defendant must believe, rightly or wrongly, that the attack is imminent. Lord Griffith said in Beckford v R (1988):
” A man about to be attacked does not have to wait for his assailant to strike the first blow or fire the first shot; circumstances may justify a pre-emptive strike. ”

People do have a defence in law that they were acting in self defence but the force used must be reasonable. I suggest that you call the police as this would warrant an immediate response.

Question 17 – We are seeing locally on our road and park a huge increase in low level crime that is seemingly ignored. 30+ car break ins on our road last few months. Drug dealing and taking on our road and West Harrow park. Tagging graffiti around the area. There is zero deterrent to these criminals and the police understandably have priorities. Our road is considering vigilante / private stakeouts. This is through desperation. Lack of possible direct contact to police for advice and time consuming logging of crime and tardy responses. We are looking to find a solution. Visible postering? Arranging schedules where possible police drive bys? It’s impossible. The criminals know this. How do we take this forward and help a community frustrated and ready to act. Thankyou.

Police Response:
Vehicle crime in the last 4 weeks
Theft from a motor vehicle Theft of motor vehicle
Barnet 272 Barnet 147
Brent 183 Brent 187
Harrow 105 Harrow 61
Please contact your local Safer neighbourhood team who can give you crime prevention advice. Details can be found on the Met Police website – https://www.met.police.uk/

Question 18 – The drug problem we have in Harrow

Police Response: Proactive officers are working on identifying the suppliers and we are executing warrants regularly.