At the end of last week, I finally received a response from the new Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, following a letter I sent to him before Christmas on policing in Outer London. A copy of the Commissioner's response can be viewed below this article I am arranging to meet him at the end of the month to discuss local resourcing, specifically the need for new officers to have a base from which to operate in Hornchurch & Upminster and to make sure that our constituency’s town centres are not neglected.
Ahead of that meeting, I am keen to provide him with an update on the number of signatures we have on our petition to keep Hornchurch Police Station open and a part of the Met’s estate. We have got over 800 signatures and our local campaign teams were out again over the weekend to garner more support. If you have not yet signed, please do consider adding your name or sharing with other local people.
LOCAL INCIDENTS
Following a series of high-profile incidents in Hornchurch and Ardleigh Green, in February I wrote to our local Police Borough Commander, Stuart Bell, calling for increased patrols in Hornchurch. For more information on these representations, click here.
Stuart has now also replied, confirming that there is a real focus from local officers in tackling knife crime and other violent offences in the constituency, with a new policing plan for Hornchurch that includes additional patrols, school officers, and joint working with partners in Havering Council to address housing tenants who may be in breach of their tenancy agreement by committing anti-social behaviour. I have also been working with a variety of local stakeholders to support these efforts, including requesting a push from Havering Council’s trading standards team against the selling of knives to children now that new, tougher sentencing guidelines came into force over the weekend for retailers convicted of selling knives to those underage. They have now committed to visiting all those shops selling knives locally.
I had highlighted a number of specific incidents that had caused significant concern locally with the Borough Commander, including two knife offences and an incident in which it was claimed that two men attempted to lead a lady down an alleyway in Hornchurch High Street.
While it has once again been confirmed that there was no attempt at theft or abduction in the alleyway incident, I am pleased to report that a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) stall, alongside a Walk & Talk event, has been conducted in the area and that officers have made the location a hotspot for patrol in order to provide reassurance.
In connection to a stabbing in Hornchurch Town Centre on 18 February and the stabbing of a New City College student at the Ardleigh Green Campus on 21 February, Stuart shared that the police consider that the two crimes are unconnected, and suspects have been identified and arrested in each case.
Further to the Ardleigh Green attack, I had a good meeting with Janet Smith, Principal of New City College, who confirmed that the response from police was very good. In this particular case, the bleed kit that the College had access to helped to save the life of the young student who was attacked. I have therefore put the Ricky Hayden Memorial trust, who donated the bleed kit, in touch with the Havering franchisee for McDonald's to see if they can accommodate these kits in their branches given their town centre locations. More information on this can be found in an earlier update here.
Stuart shares my overall concern about knife crime in Havering and set out how his officers are undertaking a range of proactive and preventative actions with partners to help combat this. This includes reviewing crime and hotspots every four weeks to support the most effective deployment of resources to where there is the highest risk, harm and levels of crime. This is supported by our neighbourhood teams in the constituency being fully staffed at present and the Commander is hoping to attract some additional Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in the next 12 months.
I had highlighted that I have particular concerns about town centres in Havering, other than Romford, with busy transport hubs and night-time economies. I am pleased to report that Stuart has tasked the incoming Borough Neighbourhood Superintendent to focus on this, and I shall be meeting him at my next meeting with the Borough Commander. I would welcome any policing feedback or crime concerns from constituents that they would like me to share at that meeting, please email me via: [email protected]
Stuart has also confirmed that the sale of the Hornchurch Police Station has been put on hold while the Commissioner considers the impact of the Casey review and the Met’s Turnaround plan. I do hope that this means our community campaign can make the difference when the Met comes to making its decisions on its estate in the coming months. I will let constituents know how my meeting with the Commissioner goes on this subject.
CELEBRATING LOCAL POLICE WORK
Finally, I welcomed a group of local police officers to parliament last month to celebrate their life-saving actions at Hornchurch sheltered accommodation, Mavis Court, last summer when a serious fire broke out. To read more about their fantastic work, click here.
