Dozens brave blizzards to enjoy community coffee morning

Despite the atrocious weather, dozens of local residents made it along to our community coffee morning today at St Anselm's Church Hall.

It was great chance for all three local councillors; Lorna, Mark and Steve; to catch up with some familiar and some new faces.

We were delighted to be joined by London Assembly Member Val Shawcross, who listened to residents' concerns about the Mayor of London's plans to close police stations and fire stations. Lots of people signed Lambeth's petition calling on the Mayor to restore 100 police officers to our borough.

100 more police

Lambeth Council has launched a campaign calling for the Mayor of London to provide an additional
100 police officers for Lambeth to make our streets safer.

The Mayor of London is responsible for policing across London. According to his own figures the number of police officers in Lambeth has fallen by 20 per cent since 2010. That’s the biggest
reduction of any London borough. Lambeth had 1,052 officers in May 2010, but just 838 by December 2012, meaning we lost 214 police officers in that time.


A fair deal for Lambeth

While Lambeth has suffered a 20 per cent reduction in police numbers, other boroughs like Hammersmith and Fulham has only seen a reduction of five per cent. Lambeth residents pay just as much for the police, through the Mayor’s portion of the council tax – we are entitled to get our fair share of police. 100 more police officers would mean Lambeth being treated like other London boroughs and will bring us in line with the London average. We think that’s a fair deal.


Five reasons why we need 100 more police officers for Lambeth

1. Local policing works for Lambeth and we know community confidence comes from good, local, visible policing. 100 more police will let us continue to combat crime at a local level.

2. We are at the forefront of tackling violence against women and girls. 100 more police will allow us to continue this vital work.

3. We have the second highest robbery rates in London and are in the top three boroughs for serious violent crime. 100 more police will mean putting resources where they are needed most.

4. Residents need to know we are serious about ending the cycle of gang crime. 100 more police will send a clear message that gang violence will be stopped.

5. The fear of crime is the top concern for our residents yet we are facing the biggest reduction in police numbers of all London boroughs. 100 more police will show residents we are on their side.


What’s the alternative?

The Mayor of London has set out his proposals on policing at www.london.gov.uk


Get involved

The Mayor of London will make a final decision on police numbers by April. You can make your voice heard by signing the petition.

Val takes police petition to Vauxhall Gardens

On Saturday Lambeth's London Assembly Member Val Shawcross visited the Vauxhall Gardens Estate to collect signatures for London Labour's petition against Tory police cuts.

Val and her team are campaigning against Tory Mayor Boris Johnson's plan to cut 1800 police officers from London's streets.

The petition got an enthusiastic response from Vauxhall Gardens Estate residents, angry that the Tories are considering cutting the police so soon after this summer's riots

You can sign the petition here.
Pictured: Val with some of her team on Saturday, including Prince's Councillor Steve Morgan

Success dealing with intimidating street drinkers at Vauxhall Street shops

Local residents around Vauxhall Street have confirmed that anti-social behaviour outside the shops has massively reduced after police intervention this summer.

Some street drinkers outside the shop were regularly causing a nuisance - intimidating passers-by and urinating outside people's homes.

After residents complained, Councillor Mark Harrison asked the police and the Council's anti-social behaviour team to investigate what could be done to solve the problem. They have spoken to off licences in the area to make some simple changes to the way they sell alcohol, and engaged regularly with the street drinkers to discourage anti-social behaviour.

Thanks to this work, street drinking outside the shops on Vauxhall Street has virtually disappeared in the past week. The police will continue to keep a close eye on the area to ensure the problems don't start up again.

Police call for review of licence for Area and Fire

The Police have called for a review of the licences for two of Vauxhall's biggest and most popular LGBT clubs.

In the case of Area (67-68 Albert Embankment) the 'Police have expressed concerns for the safety of persons attending this venue, following a number of covert operations during which officers observed the supply and usage of illegal drugs, and incidents of drink spiking within the venue. Police have stated that they believe the premises’ management to be 'either unwilling or unable to tackle the drugs problems which are endemic to this venue''.

In the case of Fire (39-44 Parry Street) the 'Police have expressed serious concerns for the safety of persons attending this venue, following a number of covert operations during which officers observed the supply and usage of illegal drugs, and test purchasing officers were supplied with illegal substances themselves. Police have stated that they believe the premises’ management to be 'either unwilling or unable to tackle the drugs problems which are endemic to this venue''.

The deadline for representations is 15 September. There are details of how to make representations here .

Now is the time to support our police service

Your local Labour councillors want to pay tribute to the bravery and hard work of our police officers this week, who have faced unprecendented disorder and violence in our city. Thankfully, our immediate area escaped the worst of the trouble, but the scarred shopfronts of Walworth Road, Brixton, Clapham Junction and Lower Marsh are grim reminders of the damage the disorder has done to our city.

We were opposed to Boris Johnson's cuts to the police before this week, but after the events of Sunday and Monday nights we think the situation has changed completely. There can't be any justification for cutting back on the police officers who we relied upon on this week.

Currently the Metropolitan Police Authority plans the following cuts to police staff:
Labour has launched a petition against these cuts, calling on the Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson to:

-Abandon his plans to force 600 London police sergeants to reapply for their own jobs. They should be focusing on making the streets safe for Londoners, not worrying about their own jobs.

-Drop his plan to cut 300 sergeants from London's 630 safer neighbourhood teams. In February 2011, Boris Johnson's Deputy Mayor for Policing, Kit Malthouse pushed through plans to cut 300 sergeants from local beat teams.

-Reverse his decision to cut 1800 police officers in London over the next three years. Metropolitan Police Authority figures revealed that the number of police officers in London is being cut by 1,800 between 2011 to 2013/14.

You can sign the petition here

Letter to residents from Prince's ward local police Sergeant

Dear resident,

I write you to as the Safer Neighbourhood Sergeant on the Prince's Ward, which is the local Policing team dedicated solely to policing your area.

As you will no doubt be aware London has suffered unprecedented occurrences of spontaneous crime and disorder over the past few days, which has unfortunately been caused by some people who live within the borough of Lambeth and may be residents of our ward.

You will be pleased to know that there have not been any such incidents within our community, but I am appealing for your help to bring the perpetrators to justice and to inform us of any criminal activity or disorder you feel may occur within the near future.

The people responsible have caused much pain and suffering to many people, businesses and business owners across London, and any assistance you can give in identifying anyone that you believe was involved will be greatly appreciated.

In particular if you saw or see any members of your community carrying or offering for sale any electrical or clothing items or any goods that did not look like they were procured in the usual manner, please let us know.

I encourage you to contact us directly or via Crimestoppers, which you can do so anonymously.

Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously either online via http://www.crimestoppers.co.uk/ or by telephone on 0800 555 111.

As a reminder all emergencies or incidents of crime which are happening ‘now’ should be called through to Police on 999.

All other non-emergency incidents can be brought to the attention of us on the dedicated Prince's Safer Neighbourhood Team mobile on 07920 233835 or landline 020 8721 2627.

You can also call the dedicated Metropolitan Police non-emergency number on 101.

Please report anything suspicious to us and help look after your community.

Yours sincerely,

Sergeant Bob Lockyer 59LX

LX - Lambeth Borough
Prince's Safer Neighbourhood Team

Kennington Police Station,
49-51 Kennington Road,
London
SE1 7QA

Telephone: 020 8721 2627 or 07920 233835 or 101
Princes.snt@met.police.uk
www.met.police.uk

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons: Anthony Newman from Leiden, Netherlands)

Safer Neighbourhood Team meeting

Thursday saw the quarterly meeting of the Prince's ward Safer Neighbourhood Team Panel, at the Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel (pictured).

The meeting came only two days after this week's shooting on Black Prince Road, and Sergeant Bob Lockyear began by giving the Panel an update. Thankfully the victim is expected to recover, and several arrests have been made.

The majority of the meeting focused on serious problems with street drinkers around Glyn Street and Auckland Street, next to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The police made a commitment to focus their resources on this area , whilst councillors and council officers will work to try to tackle the problem of alcohol being sold to street drinkers by the off licenses in the area.

The next SNT Panel meeting is on 27 October at 6:30pm. All are welcome, and all residents' associations should consider sending somebody along.

The local police do regular surgeries and street briefings around the area:

What: Street briefing, When: 25/07/2011 - 15:00 - 16:00, Where: Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens

What: Street briefing, When: 04/08/2011 - 19:00 - 20:00, Where: Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground - Lambeth High Street

What: Street briefing, When: 21/08/2011 - 15:00 - 17:00, Where: Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens

What: Street briefing, When: 06/09/2011 - 10:00 - 11:00, Where: Durning Libary - Kennington Lane SE11

What: Crime Prevention Stall, When: 19/09/2011 - 10:00 - 11:00, Where: Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground - Lambeth High Street

What: Street briefing, When: 30/09/2011 - 10:00 - 11:00, Where: Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground - Lambeth High Street

What: Street briefing, When: 07/10/2011 - 10:00 - 11:00, Where: Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens

What: Drop-in surgery, When: 15/10/2011 - 10:00 - 11:00, Where: Durning Libary - Kennington Lane SE11

What: Street briefing, When: 04/11/2011 - 10:00 - 11:00, Where: Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground - Lambeth High Street

What: Street briefing, When: 18/11/2011 - 15:00 - 16:00, Where: Tyers Street juntion with Kennington Lane SE11

What: Crime Prevention Stall, When: 02/12/2011 - 15:00 - 16:00, Where: Lambeth High Street Recreation Ground - Lambeth High Street

Information about your local police is here

You can contact them directly on: Princes.snt@met.police.uk /07920 233835, though they don't work all of the time.

At other times call the police non-emergency number: 101.

In an emergency call 999.

Project Hannah lanched: new localised police teams

For several years Safer Neighbourhoods Teams have been operating - providing a dedicated team of police officers in each ward.

Now Lambeth Police are going a step further. They are reassigning officers from response teams to new clusters - areas of three or four wards joined together.

Prnce's ward will part of the Kennington cluster - which includes Waterloo and Oval. In additional to our Safer Neighbourhoods Team, at least 14 officers will be assigned to work exclusively in our area, responding to all non-emergency crimes.

The new arrangements should provide our area with more dedicated local policing, and officers with a better understanding of our area.

Safer Neighbourhoods Update

Yesterday the Prince's Safer Neighbourhoods Panel met.

News included:

- A suspected prolific drug dealer in the area has been evicted after a police investigation assisted by the community

-There has been a major spike in burglaries in Prince's ward but this was down to one individual operating in one block of flats who has now been arrested

-There has been an increase in theft from motor vehicles

-The operators of the CCTV cameras on the Ethelred Estate have received a commendation from the Borough Commander for their work in assisting the police

-There have fewer incidents related to status dogs and dangerous dogs than this time last year

-PC Steve Lockyer has been promoted and is moving on from Prince's ward. PC Colin Buchan will also be moving on fairly soon. We will have two replacement PCs.

-Our ward priorities are now drugs, rough sleepers and antisocial street drinkers, theft from motor vehicles, and youth engagement.

Find out more about our Safer Neighbourhood Team here

Setting up a Neighbourhood Watch in your area

Lambeth Borough Police have appointed a new neighbourhood watch coordinator, whose job it is to encourage and support new and existing neighbouhood watch schemes.

Karen Hunn visited the Prince's ward Safer Neighbourhoods Panel meeting last week to tell residents about the scheme.

Existing residents' associations can form themselves into Neighbourhood Watches. Benefits include signs and stickers which help deter crime, reductions on home insurance, and free public liability insurance for burglary.

If you are interested in setting up a Neighbourhood Watch group, email Karen: Karen.Hunn@met.police.uk