onionbagblog
Safe as Stockwell Houses
And so off to St John's Church Hall along the Clap'ham Road on Wednesday evening for the quarterly meeting of the Larkhall Ward Safer Neighbourhoods Panel. Note the use of safer rather than safe; don't have nightmares, etc.
The SNP has the practical function to support the work of the Larkhall safer neighbourhood police team. After two and a half years of in existence, the evidence suggests that real results are being met on the ground.
The meetings have an air of curtain twitching about them, but it's all positive and pro-active. With representation from the local Sergeant, this isn't the glorified policing of The Bill, but a real sense of plods on the beats, helping and working within the local community.
Membership of the SNP is open to all in the ward (or even *cough* those living on the boundary borders but who seem to spend more time in over Larkhall than The Oval ward.) This form of open democratic accountability is hard to criticise, but with the policy power that the SNP has, I couldn't but help think that ten individuals directing policing in the entire ward wasn't entirely representative.
Down to business...
Most of the agenda was taken up with Sergeant Williams giving feedback from his team for the previous quarter. No surprises that Stockwell Gardens Estate remains the main problem area in the patch. A recent sweep of the estate found firearms and class A drugs statched away in communal areas. Banning orders are in place for non-locals causing a problem; dealing with offenders closer to home isn't quite so easy.
Stockwell Gardens has a gang problem, summed up by Sergeant Williams as one which:
'...we may never solve, but we have to try and tackle.'
Gangs are kicking in the doors of empty properties, which then become used by rough sleepers. Burglaries remain stable, but the multi-occupancy nature (and access) to much of the estate means that entry to adjacent property is possible.
Burglaries within the ward are down from twenty-five in the previous quarter, to sixteen in the current. This of course all depends on the definition of a burglary; the theft of my wheelie bin was raised. Plus the crime figures don't take into account unreported incidents.
There has been a clampdown on cannabis use around Larkhall Park. Sergeant Williams observed that the majority of this came from the adjacent South Bank University.
There was also mention of the notorious Grandma's takeaway, situated opposite Clap'ham North tube. Newcomers to the area would be surprised to see a sandwich shop trading past midnight. Despite the SW4 postcode, a nut honey ciabatta is unlikely to be on the menu. But Grandma (or even Grandpa as it happens) has now expanded to become a music emporium. Except the old fella is lacking somewhat in stock.
Sergeant Williams noted that prosecution for either selling or possession (not of ciabattas) is extremely difficult and frustrating because of 'technicalities.' Meanwhile the nighttime economy continues too flout the law on the mean streets of Clap'ham.
Cannabis possession counted for the highest recorded crime in the ward for the previous quarter with 55 arrests. The second highest recorded crime was for bicycle theft, with a worryingly high figure of forty-four. It was at this stage of the meeting that my mind turned towards my Raleigh locked up outside the front of St John's...
But the work of the SNP is not all about nasty burglars or substance abuse. The Youth Inclusion Project is the preventative, friendly face of Larkhall policing. This project has been focussed around the Springfield Estate of late. The youth club at St John's has just been re-launched, and work is taking place by the local police within Larkhall Primary School. Catch 'em young, keep 'em clean.
A new initiative led by the new Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson is that of the PC Pledge. Put simply, your local plod will state what level of policing constituents can expect from the local constabulary. The concept is to 'empower communities.' The consensus in the room was that in reality, this is not achievable.
It's very easy to see the SNP as a quango of quasi middle-class liberals trying to keep South London Yoof away from their pricey SW4 property. Sergeant Williams however revealed though that if necessary, the peak policing hours that he can call upon is for a Friday and Saturday night along the Clap'ham Road when the 'night time economy' heralded by @Lambeth Council kicks off in a very real Rugger Bugger sense.
The SNP concluded with the business end of the meeting. Three achievable targets had to be put forward for Sergeant Williams and his team to focus on. Stockwell Gardens Estate and Yoof remained high on the list, joined for the next three months by a focus on the Clap'ham Road Estate. This is an area that the panel felt has been overlooked of late.
And so with a two hour meeting and a hastily hashed blog post, that dear reader is community policing in the Larkhall ward addressed for the next quarter. It really was as simple as that in influencing some form of local, democratic input towards community policing. Such a shame though that only ten people in the ward could come forward to put their views forward (and two of them were those lovely tweeting Lambeth councillors.)
Speaking of which - I was politely ticked off by @clrr_robbins for attending a meting that was borderline for my little patch of South London. Technically I didn't vote on the issues, and yeah, I still beat the good councillor home.
All Lambeth wards hold these quarterly meetings. It is your chance to directly engage with the local police and put forward your concerns or suggestions. Use it or lose it.
Evenin' all.
technorati: larkhall, stockwell, sw4, sw8, safer neighbourhood panel
reply via twitter
| Thursday 12 March, 2009 |
And so off to St John's Church Hall along the Clap'ham Road on Wednesday evening for the quarterly meeting of the Larkhall Ward Safer Neighbourhoods Panel. Note the use of safer rather than safe; don't have nightmares, etc.
The SNP has the practical function to support the work of the Larkhall safer neighbourhood police team. After two and a half years of in existence, the evidence suggests that real results are being met on the ground.
The meetings have an air of curtain twitching about them, but it's all positive and pro-active. With representation from the local Sergeant, this isn't the glorified policing of The Bill, but a real sense of plods on the beats, helping and working within the local community.
Membership of the SNP is open to all in the ward (or even *cough* those living on the boundary borders but who seem to spend more time in over Larkhall than The Oval ward.) This form of open democratic accountability is hard to criticise, but with the policy power that the SNP has, I couldn't but help think that ten individuals directing policing in the entire ward wasn't entirely representative.
Down to business...
Most of the agenda was taken up with Sergeant Williams giving feedback from his team for the previous quarter. No surprises that Stockwell Gardens Estate remains the main problem area in the patch. A recent sweep of the estate found firearms and class A drugs statched away in communal areas. Banning orders are in place for non-locals causing a problem; dealing with offenders closer to home isn't quite so easy.
Stockwell Gardens has a gang problem, summed up by Sergeant Williams as one which:
'...we may never solve, but we have to try and tackle.'
Gangs are kicking in the doors of empty properties, which then become used by rough sleepers. Burglaries remain stable, but the multi-occupancy nature (and access) to much of the estate means that entry to adjacent property is possible.
Burglaries within the ward are down from twenty-five in the previous quarter, to sixteen in the current. This of course all depends on the definition of a burglary; the theft of my wheelie bin was raised. Plus the crime figures don't take into account unreported incidents.
There has been a clampdown on cannabis use around Larkhall Park. Sergeant Williams observed that the majority of this came from the adjacent South Bank University.
There was also mention of the notorious Grandma's takeaway, situated opposite Clap'ham North tube. Newcomers to the area would be surprised to see a sandwich shop trading past midnight. Despite the SW4 postcode, a nut honey ciabatta is unlikely to be on the menu. But Grandma (or even Grandpa as it happens) has now expanded to become a music emporium. Except the old fella is lacking somewhat in stock.
Sergeant Williams noted that prosecution for either selling or possession (not of ciabattas) is extremely difficult and frustrating because of 'technicalities.' Meanwhile the nighttime economy continues too flout the law on the mean streets of Clap'ham.
Cannabis possession counted for the highest recorded crime in the ward for the previous quarter with 55 arrests. The second highest recorded crime was for bicycle theft, with a worryingly high figure of forty-four. It was at this stage of the meeting that my mind turned towards my Raleigh locked up outside the front of St John's...
But the work of the SNP is not all about nasty burglars or substance abuse. The Youth Inclusion Project is the preventative, friendly face of Larkhall policing. This project has been focussed around the Springfield Estate of late. The youth club at St John's has just been re-launched, and work is taking place by the local police within Larkhall Primary School. Catch 'em young, keep 'em clean.
A new initiative led by the new Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson is that of the PC Pledge. Put simply, your local plod will state what level of policing constituents can expect from the local constabulary. The concept is to 'empower communities.' The consensus in the room was that in reality, this is not achievable.
It's very easy to see the SNP as a quango of quasi middle-class liberals trying to keep South London Yoof away from their pricey SW4 property. Sergeant Williams however revealed though that if necessary, the peak policing hours that he can call upon is for a Friday and Saturday night along the Clap'ham Road when the 'night time economy' heralded by @Lambeth Council kicks off in a very real Rugger Bugger sense.
The SNP concluded with the business end of the meeting. Three achievable targets had to be put forward for Sergeant Williams and his team to focus on. Stockwell Gardens Estate and Yoof remained high on the list, joined for the next three months by a focus on the Clap'ham Road Estate. This is an area that the panel felt has been overlooked of late.
And so with a two hour meeting and a hastily hashed blog post, that dear reader is community policing in the Larkhall ward addressed for the next quarter. It really was as simple as that in influencing some form of local, democratic input towards community policing. Such a shame though that only ten people in the ward could come forward to put their views forward (and two of them were those lovely tweeting Lambeth councillors.)
Speaking of which - I was politely ticked off by @clrr_robbins for attending a meting that was borderline for my little patch of South London. Technically I didn't vote on the issues, and yeah, I still beat the good councillor home.
All Lambeth wards hold these quarterly meetings. It is your chance to directly engage with the local police and put forward your concerns or suggestions. Use it or lose it.
Evenin' all.
technorati: larkhall, stockwell, sw4, sw8, safer neighbourhood panel
reply via twitter
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