Forum Topic

Pitbull Gang Terrorise Hammermsith Bus Station

Is anyone else shocked to read this story?  I walk through this very busy area every day.  Does anyone know, when and at what time this happened?

Lena Hayes ● 6685d14 Comments

How close you were John.

Iain Bramley ● 6677d

Sorry that attitude sickens me. We are the people that live in this nightmare. These people deserve a good hiding. It strikes me that the police force is a weak force. I saw two community police being abused down in King Street  - they were powerless to do anything and walked away. Whats the point in empolying them. A scandlous waste of puiblic of money. The German or French police woul beat the s**it of these people.  There should be a public protest by withdrawing the public contribution to policing from our council tax until some proper policing is effected.Yours,Truly sickened by the namby pamby policing in the borough

John Kennedy ● 6679d

that'll make 2 of us that are angry then ........ or are we both moaning?

Fiona Campbell ● 6679d

“As I've said before this matter has been raised numerous times, it is not enforced and informing our Councillors, police or whoever does not make any difference ...... there's always an excuse.  The impotence and bureaucracy of our public services is depressing in the extreme”Sorry but I was a police officer for 18 years and in my experience there are those people who do and those who just want to complain. I have followed these recent postings from this person and got increasingly furious by the self-righteous attacks on my Hammersmith colleagues. Of course there are problems and I know local police officers will be trying hard to sort them out. If people have any constructive advise then they should send it to the relevant authority. If they just want to moan and give up then I think it’s better they keep it to themselves or find another outlet for their angst.Most of the officers I worked with are dedicated and really care about the patches they serve. They deal with all types of problems that would make most people run a mile and they are on far less money than most of the people who live around here are on. It was comments like those above that eventually made me leave the service early. Sorry but this type of attitude makes me really angry.

Caroline Macdonald ● 6679d

As I've said before this matter has been raised numerous times, it is not enforced and informing our Councillors, police or whoever does not make any difference ...... there's always an excuse.  The impotence and bureaucracy of our public services is depressing in the extreme.

Fiona Campbell ● 6679d

Thank you for letting me know.The police told me that it was previously not unlawful for a dog in H&F to be without a lead. This has changed now that new legislation has been adopted by the borough earlier this month. Clearly dangerous dogs are another matter and officers in Hammersmith Broadway told me that they enforced the dangerous dogs act in full. This morning I was told that police officers actually did stop people who didn’t have their dog on a lead previously but this new legislation gives them the powers they need to do so more robustly.If people have concerns about policing matters they can take them up directly with the police. This link will shows the police’s contact details: http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Directory/News_and_Media/HF_News/Publication/50227_Police.asp The new sergeant for the Askew team is Sgt. Brian Murphy. Askew ward residents can email any concerns directly to him on Askew.SNT@met.police.uk. I believe his number is 07917 070 542.The councillors for Askew ward are Cllr, Gill Dickenson, Cllr. Lisa Homan and Cllr. Rory Vaughan. It is their job to act as advocates for their constituents on a range of matters to do with the council, police, etc. I’m sure they’ll do their best to address any problems their constituents raise with them and they can be emailed at firstname.secondname@lbhf.gov.uk. They can also be contacted on 020 8753 2020.

Stephen Cowan ● 6679d

Well perhaps Sgt Goulden would be good enough to communicate his views to his colleagues in the Askew Ward, as they will not stop people who have do not have their dogs on leads.  At our residents meeting our safer neighbourhood team stated that they would not 'confront' people as they did not have the right forms - we have been raising this for over 3 years and still there is no effective enforcement.  What is the point in introducing yet more legislation if none of it is actually enforced?

Fiona Campbell ● 6679d

With reference to the previous posting…People have taken the trouble to visit our councillors’ surgeries and contacted us directly over recent years on this issue. We’ve lobbied the Government to change the laws and are working closely with the police to deal with the problem in all its forms. I guess it’s the same for everyone involved in public life but after a while, surprise unfortunately, ceases to be your reaction for most of the things you end up dealing with. I’ve spoken to the Sgt. Goulden about the points raised above this morning. He tells me that they will stop people who don’t have their dog on a lead. I’ve asked the police to ensure this always happens but I note from the story that the owner of the dog allegedly let go of the lead so it could bite the victim and I think this is a different problem. I would like all dangerous dogs to be muzzled and I’m seeking assurances from the Council and police that they will enforce this effectively. I’ll report back.People may know that the Government has introduced new legislation over the last few years concerning dogs. It allows for more robust action to be taken on people who don’t have their animal on a lead but includes a range of other measures (e.g. it also allows local authorities to better deal with owners who allow their dogs to foul our streets). In January 2006, I asked the CEO of our council to adapt local bi-laws so we could adopt this most recent legislation locally. I think I’m right in telling you that this has eventually become effective as of 5th March 2007.Sgt. Goulden told me this morning that if any residents of Hammersmith Broadway ward have any concerns that they want him or his team to address they should call him directly on 020 8721 2057. Please email me at stephen.cowan@lbhf.gov.uk if anyone would like me to address any other matter in Hammersmith Broadway.

Stephen Cowan ● 6679d

I would very much like to hear your comments on the last thread Mr Cowan.

Lena Hayes ● 6679d

I'm amazed that any of our Councillors are remotely surprised by this, we have been raising the issue of youths with intimidating dogs throughout our borough for several years.  Our 'Safer Neighbourhood Police' will not do anything about dogs being off leads on our streets aparently because they 'haven't got the right forms' ....... we have legislation that requires pit bull 'like' dogs to have muzzles and ALL dogs are required to be kept on leads on any road in this country with a speed limit of 30 or less yet the police do nothing and then we're surprised when something like this happens.  Our police seem to believe their job these days is to react after the event not attempt to prevent any incidents in the first place.

Fiona Campbell ● 6679d

the chiswick w4 web site has a large note on loose dogs..###############but sadly i cannot understand why the LT staff did not call the police immediately . why go up to a group of feralguys with big dogs ... what do you expect a chat ...where are the so called community police where are the LT police were the CCTV cameras working..anyone actually watching ?is there not a central control room there with CCTV onim not trying to be too negative but the poor chap was bitten.... and instead ..999.... should have got a  very quick response and result for the public ..

Bob Hodkison ● 6683d

Pit-bull dog seem to have become a fashion accessory for  thugs, especially over the last year It'll be only a matter of time before there will be a fatality in the borough. Frankly not surprised that it happened in Hammermsith Bus Station. It still seems to attract hoardes of feral teenagers - I have even seen them cycle through the mall, unhinderd.

John Kennedy ● 6684d

Michael Cartwright, Lisa Nandy and I are ward councillors for Hammersmith Broadway ward and we have been contacted by several of our constituents about illegal pit-bull dog fighting that seems to be taking place in our neighbourhood at the moment. It may be connected with that.The Safer Neighbourhood Ward Police Team is dealing with the problem. It is led by Sergeant Paul Goulden, and you can reach him and his team by phoning 020 8721 2057 or you can email them on hammersmithbroadway.SNT@met. police.uk.  I should stress that you should always call 999 in emergencies.As an aside, I should mention that I’m very concerned that his previously eight-strong team has been cut by three officers because of the changes in the new Council Administration’s priorities.

Stephen Cowan ● 6684d

The incident happened last Saturday at around 7.20pm according to the article.

Paul Corcoran ● 6685d