Labour Councillors Campaigning To Improve Neighbourhood Policing.

Havering Labour Councillors joined other elected representatives in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening last week to speak to East Area Borough Commander Stuart Bell about Neighbourhood Policing in the borough. 

Commander Bell did not mince his words, addressing not only the confidence issues that some communities have with the police service, but also the resource gap between the service’s capability and the policing that our communities expect to see. 

There was encouragement from his announcement that the Met was seeking to add 300 PC’s and 500 PCSO’s to Safer Neighbourhood Teams across the capital, with a share of those coming to Havering.

Wards will be categorised according to the crime reported, with areas experiencing a higher level of ‘risk and harm’ being allocated additional resources.

Beam Park Labour Councillor Trevor McKeever made a point of praising the local Safer Neighbourhood Team for being very proactive, but emphasised the need for greater diversity of age and background in the Ward Panels, the community-led meetings the police attend to discuss issues affecting local areas. “The Ward Panels tend to attract older people, mainly men, and it’s important that we hear from people across our whole community.”

His ward colleague Councillor Matt Stanton wants residents to be aware of the need to report crime: “People will go onFacebook, or complain to their neighbours about suspicious behaviour, or low-level crime. But not reporting can lead to the police not having a true picture of local crime levels and patterns, meaning we don’t get the resources we need. Residents can report via 101, or online at met.police.uk, or via Crimestoppers which is completely anonymous.” 

Councillor Stanton added: “A very problematic resident on Orchard Village was removed from their property by the Police, and evicted by Clarion, and this was thanks to local residents being confident enough to tell us and the police what was going on.”

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Margaret Mullane is running a campaign to improve policing across the area. Margaret told the Havering Daily:” I want to make sure that areas like Beam Park and residential roads across Dagenham and Rainham are not short-changed in policing levels. There also needs to be a policing focus on local travel hubs, for example around stations such as Elm Park. Too often police are diverted to town centres or to events across London.”

To sign Margaret’s ‘Policing that Dagenham & Rainhamdeserves’ petition, go to https://www.dagenhamandrainham.org.uk/news/2023/01/13/new-policing-campaign-launched/

Councillor Matt Stanton with Havering Enforcement Manager Jane Eastaff, local Police Officers and Council Enforcement Officers.

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