Latest news Friday 29 January
Council presents police petition to Metropolitan Police Authority
The leader of Waltham Forest Council and a delegation of residents and school children travelled down to City Hall to present the 7,100 signature petition to the Metropolitan Police Authority calling on its chair, Boris Johnson to provide Waltham Forest with more police officers.
Police campaign gets boost from young campaigners
Campaigning youngsters are backing Waltham Forest Council’s calls for more police and have signed up 800 new people to back the campaign.
Young people representing The East London Communities Organisation (TELCO) hand delivered 800 signed pledge cards, backing the Council's "We're Calling For Back Up" campaign to Waltham Forest Town Hall in Walthamstow, on Thursday 21 January bringing the total number of people supporting the campaign to 7,100.
Waltham Forest's retiring top cop talks police numbers
Chief Superintendent Mark Benbow, who retired on December 11, told Waltham Forest News that the borough was “clearly not resourced to the right level”.
He said Waltham Forest’s existing 565 officers would be sufficient if they were required to handle Walthamstow, Leyton and Leytonstone but dealing with Chingford as well strained resources.
Christmas edition of back-up campaign advertising
We've given the latest promotion for the back-up campaign a Christmas face lift. Look out for it on the front page of the next edition of Waltham Forest News and pledge your support.
Meeting with Deputy London Mayor over police resourcing
A delegation from Waltham Forest including Council leader Cllr Chris Robbins, met Deputy Mayor of London Kit Malthouse, who has responsibility for policing, to press the authority’s case for an extra 120 police officers and to look at overall crime in Waltham Forest.
Waltham Forest Council Leader, Cllr Chris Robbins, said:
We had a full and frank exchange with Kit Malthouse about our need for extra police officers. We also discussed serious youth crime and high levels of sexual assault in our borough and we'll continue to work constructively with the Metropolitan Police Authority and the police to tackle these issues of concern to residents.
"All political parties in the council and our residents are united in wanting more police officers in our borough to make up the shortfall compared to other London boroughs and we will continue to lobby Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London as the Chair of the MPA
More than 6,000 signatures on the petition
Support continues for the campaign with more than 6,000 people from our community pledging support.
Tell us your views on the campaign
We want to hear your views on the police campaign and why you think we need at least 120 extra police officers in the borough. Please fill in the comment box when you are signing the petition or email them direct to web.site@walthamforest.gov.uk
You can read what other people have to say on the your comments page
We made it to 5,000 signatures and still counting!
A big thank-you to everyone who has helped us reach more than 5,000 signatures in support of our call for 120 extra police officers to be allocated to the Borough.
Less than a month ago an ambitious target was set to reach 5,000 signatures by November 2009 and it is a fantastic achievement to have made it.
We're not going to stop here though, and urge anyone yet to show their support to sign the petition.
Alternatively there are postcards available at Council buildings and GP surgeries across Waltham Forest which can be completed and returned to us by freepost.
Almost 2,000 pledge support for campaign
By Friday 9 October over 1,800 people had already pledged their support.
This is a fantastic response from the community and shows just how strong public feeling is on police resources in the Borough.
"Constructive” dialogue at Mayor’s meeting over Council calls for more police.
Waltham Forest Council’s leader, Cllr Chris Robbins, has described discussions with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, regarding policing numbers in Waltham Forest as "constructive”.
Cllr Chris Robbins, is calling on Boris Johnson, as the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, to provide an extra 120 officers to make up the shortfall.
The pair met at City Hall on Friday (6 October), and the Council’s police campaign was top of the agenda.
» Read the full story here
» Show your support by signing our online petition