Council determined to crack down on rising crime
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has announced plans to fund round the clock neighbourhood policing.
The Council is the first local authority in the country to work with their local police force to trial local neighbourhood policing – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In a unique move, LBH&F is contributing £1.5 million over two years to test market round the clock neighbourhood beat policing for residents in a high crime ward.
Architect of the plans and Cabinet Member for Crime & Anti-social Behaviour, Councillor Greg Smith, says “Criminals don’t operate on shift patterns so neither should the police. That’s why we’re working with the Met and providing £1.5 million over two years to trial 24/7 neighbourhood policing.
“This experiment is a massive sea change and a hugely ambitious project for a local authority to start. It will immediately benefit the residents in the test area and ultimately residents across the whole of Hammersmith & Fulham.”
Final plans for the pilot scheme, which will go live in April 2007, are being hammered out at the town hall. The plan is to introduce an expanded Safer Neighbourhood team, which will work in shifts, in a pilot area to provide round the clock coverage 365 days a year.
Acting Borough Commander David Page, who has been given the job of making the scheme work on the ground, says, “I am relishing this unique opportunity to trial 24/7 community based policing. I am looking forward to turning the vision of round the clock beat policing into a reality.”
Initially the council will provide £1.5million over two years for one pilot ward with local businesses and the North Fulham NDC currently being asked to contribute to a second.
Each test market team will have a dedicated and accountable police Inspector competing with other wards for the lowest crime figures as well as managing: 5 sergeants; 10 police constables and 15 police community support officers.
Met Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin says, “The council came to us with this idea and we were happy to discuss it with them. A strong partnership arrangement is needed to deliver this pilot project and we are confident that the results will be impressive.”
The ground breaking pilot scheme will run for 18 months from April next year and is expected to be closely watched by other authorities as well as Whitehall.
Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority Len Duvall says, "The pilot scheme in Hammersmith & Fulham is a major development and after proper evaluation will be a very useful contribution to the future of London policing.”
The additional officers will be funded by the council and will be expected to report enviro-crime to the council as well as carry out their enforcement role.
Councillor Smith concludes, “Residents want a more visible, local uniformed presence 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – just like they have in New York and Chicago. This is a genuinely groundbreaking approach to crime and anti-social behaviour in London.”
December 23, 2006