Safe neighbourhoods

We are already arranging for residents - young and old - to come out of their houses and socialise. We invite police to meetings and lately I've seen horse-riding police amongst our community. We are working to build a better community so that the young people and those who might be attracted to negative behaviour are encouraged to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Why are we depending on the community to police our neighbourhoods. We need more investment into policing and more police in service. That's it - end of story.

101 is 'broken' and when I dialled 999 recently to report open drug abuse by a number of young men in a car outside my local park, I was held in a 'your call is important' queue for over fifteen minutes.

By the time the call was answered and, eventually, there was a response the car with it's drug fulled occupants had fled.

What is the point of trying to report a crime in progress if you cannot get a response?

more visible patrols. Hold community meeting events at times when people can attend (ie not during the daytime, when many of us are at work, then say that low attendance meant nobody was interested!)

Just trying to report issues is a joke, you try and use the website, it directs you to use 101 you can’t get through to that for ages, sometimes in excess of 30 minutes, if your lucky enough to actually be able to report the crime, you rarely get a physical response from the police, if at all, and in 99% of things I’ve reported, I’ve had no feedback or follow up, it’s pointless. I’ve lived in my property almost 6 years in that time I’ve never had any contact with our so called safer neighbourhood team or any neighbourhood watch team despite asking the police to give them my details for them to contact me, nobody has, I don’t even know who they are. The police have insufficient resources to deal with the volume of crime in our communities, and when they do try and prosecute offenders the entire judicial system lets them down, these persistent offenders are not given sentences appropriate to their crimes and are back out in no time to reoffend. Local councils are also to blame, they just don’t have the infrastructure to deal with local issues like ASB and never pursue eviction for repeat offenders. Communication and collaboration between local councils and the police is so poor, leaving us, law abiding citizens to exist in mini ghettos. This government should hang its head in shame.

Burglary seems to be a non-crime now in terms of police resources being available to act promptly. Feeling insecure in your own home is not helpful to a "safer neighbourhood"

I find the monthly (e-mail) newsletters from my local force interesting and useful and I also like the OWL messaging service used to appeal for witnesses or information.  Digital solutions are cost effective and save time.  Would it not be an idea to give Local Authority Enforcement Officers more clout so that they can deal with 'low level' crime or at least offer the police more support?  Like others, I haven't seen a policeman on foot in my area ever.  They used to fly through on bicycles, but I haven't seen them in years.  Also, we have had a few major incidents which resulted in the road being closed, armed police and dogs etc, but none of us have any idea what they were doing.  At one point we all had to wait by police tape and be escorted to and from our front doors for 4 days - I have no idea what that was about.

I've just completed a safer neighbourhood survey and one of the sets of questions asked about my neighbourhood which was determined as within fifteen minutes walk. So one of the questions asked if everyone in the neighbourhood had the same values. I can't possibly know everyones values in the set neighbourhood. So it is too large an area for any answers to be meaningful. A smaller area should be allowed.

Our local police officers in the SNP  actually laugh as they stand in their office and watch the phone ring whilst ignoring it so they can carry on doing nothing all day.

I think the focus on neighbourhoods and local areas is a distraction.  London is a very well connected city and I have friends & family all over the place, therefore I want to be safe wherever I go.  Knowing what the police are up to on my doorstep is no use if I spend most evenings socialising outside of my borough.