WALTHAM FOREST: New council-funded police officers start work (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)
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WALTHAM FOREST: New council-funded police officers start work
8:58am Wednesday 30th December 2009 in
NEW police officers funded by scrapping the borough's popular street warden service have now started work in the borough.
The council took the decision to axe the wardens and use the money to part-fund an extra 10 police officers and a further eight environmental officers to tackle flytipping, graffiti, littering and dog foulding.
The council has paid a discounted contribution of £400,000 towards the officers.
Councillors rubber-stamped the move last April in an attempt to “meet residents' expectations” over the tackling of violent and environmental crime.
Six of the new officers will work on tackling gangs in the south of the borough, two will join the Walthamstow High Street safer neighbourhood team to help it police the market and others will work in schools.
The move received cross-party support.
But the decision to axe the familiar street wardens was criticised by some residents and schoolchildren from Jenny Hammond School Primary School, in Worsley Road, Leytonstone wrote to councillors asking that the wardens be retained.
The street wardens, who wore distinctive red shirts, had often been praised for their community work.
They arranged activities for children and older people and raised money for charity.
The new officers begin their duties a week after the Metropolitan Police Authority ruled out reviewing police numbers for Waltham Forest, despite a petition of more than 6,000 residents calling for more officers.
Council leader Chris Robbins had previously said he did not want "preferential treatment" but a "fair deal" for the borough.
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Comments(8)
Sigi from Walthamstow
says...
12:01pm Wed 30 Dec 09
You can contact the Council until you are blue in the face about littering and dirty streets - but our Council does nothing.
More officers in our streets are always welcome.
But will they make a real difference?
The real problem lies within the council itself:
Departments are obviously not trained do their jobs properly or are simply incompetent.
Whatever it is: You can see the results in our filthy, litter-strewn streets.
Touchwood
says...
1:23pm Wed 30 Dec 09
Sigi from Walthamstow wrote:The truth is this shambles of a Council does not act AT ALL in the interests of the Borough's residents!!
The problem is that this council simply does not ACT on reports of littering and fly-tipping. You can contact the Council until you are blue in the face about littering and dirty streets - but our Council does nothing. More officers in our streets are always welcome. But will they make a real difference? The real problem lies within the council itself: Departments are obviously not trained do their jobs properly or are simply incompetent. Whatever it is: You can see the results in our filthy, litter-strewn streets.
JonathanB
says...
4:23pm Wed 30 Dec 09
Robert19
says...
5:19pm Wed 30 Dec 09
JonathanB wrote:Likewise I reported the contents of a bedroom dumped opposite my house to the Council and it was cleared within 48 hours.
When I've reported fly tipping where I live in Higham Hill it's been cleared away in a couple of days.
G. Tingey
says...
8:32am Thu 31 Dec 09
Ther are rats here (the cat killed one) because of detritus in an ex-back-garden open to the street.
And a house with an illegal roof-extension has an ADVERT IN THE WINDOW for the builders!
Good old LBWF - terminally incompetent.
Copper Mill
says...
11:37pm Thu 31 Dec 09
Seeing Sense
says...
5:20pm Mon 4 Jan 10
And back to the actual story itself, I'm all for a few more coppers and enforcement bods on the street if it tidies the place up some and holds a few more litterbugs to account - those useless street watchers were like students being paid to muck about on rag week.
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Council leader Chris Robbins with the new officers at Selborne Walk shopping centre yesterday
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Mrs Brilliant says...
11:13am Wed 30 Dec 09
And shouldn't those officers be taking Cllr Robbins in for questioning about all the money which disappeared from the poor fund? There are still lots of unanswered questions about that murky episode.