SPOTLIGHT ON CHINGFORD: Police making communities safer and stronger (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

SPOTLIGHT ON CHINGFORD: Police making communities safer and stronger

12:27pm Friday 12th February 2010 in

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WHEN police Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) were first introduced in 2004, the idea was to create a visible police presence in every community in London.

Six years later, the role of the teams has expanded far beyond that of a “bobby on the beat”.

Reporter SIAN HARRISON met the Endlebury SNT to find out what the issues are in this part of Chingford and how the team interacts with the local community.

SERGEANT Dave Johns begins the day in the Endlebury patrol base by briefing his team on the work they will be doing that day.

His team of two police constables and three police community support officers (PCSOs) listen and take notes as the duties are divided between them.

One will be responding to an anonymous tip-off about a property which may contain weapons, another will be carrying out burglary patrols and another is to work on the latest community newsletter.

This snapshot of the team's day demonstrates the variety of challenges they encounter while protecting the 9,000 residents of Endlebury ward.

From visiting vulnerable residents once a month for a cup of tea and a chat, to undercover detective style work, clamping down on drug dealing and burglary in the area, to the team covers it all.

Sgt Johns says: “It is really important for us to get out amongst the community and meet people.

“We have built up trust and as a result, people are now happy to contact us and tell us what is going on.”

All SNTs have crimes they have to treat as priorities, which are set by the local community.

Each ward has a panel which meets once every three months to discuss issues and results of police surveys and crime statistics for are also considered when setting the priorities.

In Endlebury, the team is tasked with targeting burglary, anti-social behaviour and drug dealing as a priority.

They also have a priority to deal with traffic issues, set by the area's youth council, based at Chingford Foundation School.

“When I first arrived here about two years ago, the ward panel only had about five residents and the majority were middle-aged white people,” says Sgt Johns.

“There are now abut 27 residents involved and it is a lot more reflective of the ward as a whole in terms of age, ethnicity and where people live.

“We present information and there is also input from local councillors, but only the residents have a vote to decide what we tackle as a priority so it is very much a community-led thing.”

Apart from the ward panels, the team use various methods to keep their fingers on the pulse of the community.

They conduct street briefings, where they go to an area that may have seen a recent spate of crimes and meet residents to gather intelligence and to find out about any issues they may have.

Officers hold a weekly surgery at their patrol base in Sewardstone Road, where residents can come with any concerns they may have, they issue a newsletter in the ward and sometimes post leaflets to residents where there has been an incident, to let people know what has happened in their street.

In the age of technology, a new service is also being used to tell people what is happening in their community.

The website www.neighbourhoodlink.met.police.uk allows officers to send information about crimes in a particular area to people living there.

Sgt Johns says: “People may have seen something happening in their street and might be worried about why the police have been there.

“We are able to tell them what has happened in their area and we have got so much positive feedback when we have done it in the past.

“People thank us for letting them what has been going on.”

As the team have become more well known, people have started to approach officers more with information.

Sgt Johns said the PCSOs often gather intelligence while conducting foot patrols, because people feel comfortable with them and are happy to talk to them.

PCSO Sarah Liguori says: “Because we are out on the street and because we don't get caught up doing as much paperwork as the PCs, people know our faces more and they always approach us.

“We are involved with primary and secondary schools a lot more and we can educate young people about what the police do and start building that good relationship at an early stage.”

In addition to their policing work, the team get involved in community life in other ways.

They recently organised a Help for Heroes fundraising event at Chingford Foundation School, involving other community and members of the fire service and cadets.

Sgt Johns says: “I have been in the Met for 10 and a half years and I am the happiest I have been.

“There is so much variety and it is very rewarding when someone gives us a problem and we can discuss it, come up with an idea, then go and target that problem.

“Because we a re based in the area we get to see how well the solution has worked and get positive feedback that a response police officer wouldn't always get.”

Cllr Matthew Davis, ward councillor for Endlebury says the team has made a difference to the community.

“The team has made a major and noticeable difference to community safety in the ward,” he says.

“They are very responsive – they genuinely want to take their lead from the community and provide what people want.

“As well as being our community police, they are a proper, contributing part of the community and they know the ground really well.

“They have worked very hard and we can see the results.”

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