16 February 2010
Police meeting constructive
Senior police officers have held face-to-face talks with Waltham Forest Council’s leader and chief executive over the borough’s campaign for more police officers.
Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing Ian McPherson and Newham borough commander Tim Bracken met Cllr Chris Robbins and chief executive Andrew Kilburn at the Town Hall on 11 February to talk about crime and policing in Waltham Forest.
They agreed to look at the specific issues facing Waltham Forest such as gangs and violent crime and also discussed the arrival of the new borough commander in the coming months.
Cllr Robbins led a delegation of residents to the Metropolitan Police Authority Meeting on January 28 to present a 7,100 petition calling on its Chair, Boris Johnson, to increase the number of police officers in Waltham Forest by 120.
In August last year Waltham Forest Council launched its “We’re Calling For Back Up” campaign to address the shortfall in police numbers in it borough.
Waltham Forest has the highest rate of serious crime in London and recorded a 5.9 per cent increase in total crime between November 2008 and November 2009, when London as a whole saw a 1.7 per cent decrease in total crime.
But despite these statistics, the borough has relatively low levels of policing, compared with boroughs, which have similar crime profiles, for example Hackney has virtually the same amount of serious crime, but 195 police officers more than Waltham Forest.
» More on the We're Calling for Back Up campaign.
