Crime still low insists top cop

Borough Commander George Clarke marks Rohan Robinson's phone, watched by (left) Graham Sinclair, chairman of the police community consultative committee, and (right) Cllr Barry Smith, cabinet member for community safety

STREET crime in Waltham Forest has soared by 68 per cent in the past year the highest increase in any London borough.

But the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime is "small", said the borough's police commander.

Household burglaries rose by 45.8 per cent, with sexual assaults increasing by 20.2 per cent.

With street robbery rising by 38 per cent across London, Waltham Forest comes 11th in the top 20 robbery hotspots.

Also published on Friday, and further confusing the issue of crime in the UK, were Home Office figures from the British Crime Survey (BCS), which showed crime had fallen by 22 per cent since 1997 and by 14 per cent in the past two years.

Both sets of figures came a few days before the launch of Waltham Forest's four-year strategy for reducing crime and disorder called Safetynet.

To mark Tuesday's launch of the 26-page Safetynet document a partnership between Waltham Forest Council, police, the local health authority and voluntary groups it was arranged for staff employed by major organisations in Waltham Forest to have their mobile phones security marked free of charge at the town hall.

Joining the fight against street crime, the police community consultative group (PCCG) organised a three-day tour of the borough by the Metropolitan Police Beewise Bus.

Stops included Whipps Cross Hospital, Leyton's ASDA supermarket, and schools in Leyton and Chingford.

Staff at all these locations had the opportunity to have their mobile phones marked.

Borough commander George Clarke said: "Today's launch is indicative of the high level of collaboration in the borough.

"The purpose of the bus is to tell people about the PCCG, and there will be a significant amount of crime prevention advice given to the public.

"We will be marking people's mobile phones. This is part of our response to the high increase in street crime last year, when we saw a 68 per cent increase.

"What has to be mentioned is that we started from a low base and we are still only tenth in the Metropolitan Police crime areas.

"For a borough of this size I want to emphasise the likelihood of being a victim of crime is small. It is still a very low crime borough."

Mr Clarke said that, after September 11 when more police were moved into central London for security reasons, there was a high increase in crime displaced from other areas.

Crack houses and gang violence grew in the borough.

"We have had a lot of success in cracking down on gang violence and we are moving in on the crack houses on a regular basis," he said. "So far this year we have reduced what was a peak of ten offences a day to an average of seven per day for the first three months, and this seems to have brought the increase to a stop.

"I am confident that if we continue with our high profile of marking people's mobile phones and making them less of a commodity then we can impact on that further yet."

Citing "commuting criminals" as a cause of street crime in Waltham Forest, cabinet member for community safety Cllr Barry Smith said: "On the face of it it looks like we are going into wild west country, but the vast majority of criminals do not come from within this borough.

"I want to reassure people that they should not become alarmed by reports that some crimes are increasing.

"In many instances what is happening is that people are more comfortable about reporting them so the crime figures are high, but the crime may not be."

11:10 Wednesday 17th July 2002

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