Its been an incredibly busy time over the last few weeks, and now theres a chance to catch up at last, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the public for all their understanding, good wishes and support recently. The Edgware SNT continues to work with the people of Edgware and local businesses to keep our community as safe as possible. I can't begin to explain how much it has meant to us to receive so many messages of support, I'm sorry I can't reply to everyone who has been in touch, but please accept my thanks and gratitude here. Particular thanks also to the Broadwalk Centre and the Edgware Business Forum who worked with us to help reduce the impact of recent events on local shops and businesses in the Station Road area.

 

Whilst we continue to target crime and anti social behaviour in Edgware Ward, we also recognise the need to continue our extended engagement with the youth community in the wider area. To that end, we recently assisted Nutmeg to bring a Summer Football tournament for local youngsters to Edgwarebury Park and are currently working in partnership with Nutmeg to bring the next "e2g" youth diversion event to Edgware. More details to come, but 24th Sept will see this event take place in the Parish Hall. See www.nutmegcommunity.com for further details.

 

Our Priorities have changed over the last few months and now include dealing with theft from motor vehicle in the Stonegrove Estate area and also reducing youth ASB in and around Amias Drive on Stonegrove Estate.

 

At the July Ward Panel meeting, our chair, Fahad Mohamed, informed the panel that he had been succesful in joining the British Transport Police. Due to a conflict of interests, Fahad had to resign as Chairman (Our constitution states the chair cannot be held by a Police Officer). We wish Fahad every succes in the future and thank him for the leadership he has brought to the panel since January.

 

We are now holding a bi-monthly public meeting on the 2nd Thursday of every 2nd month - open to anyone to attend - where we will give a briefing on what has been happening in Edgware and taking questions on any issues.

 

January 20th 2011

 

We have put a lot of effort into crime prevention patrols in the Broadfields recently. Allied to this, we have put a program of street briefings in place for residents in this area as well as neighbourhood surveys and the delivering of crime prevention literature. We are seeing a reduction in offences on the back of this input, and will continue our response for the forseeable future.

 

The Ward Panel voted to make tackling Burglaries in the Broadfields their key priority at the January meeting. This replaced tackling ASB on the Stonegrove Estate.

 

We have carried out 2 search warrants at addresses in Edgware in the last couple of weeks, leading to two successful prosecutions

 

At the recent Ward Panel AGM, our Chairperson and Secretary stepped down. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Morton and Shirley for all the hard work they have put into the panel over the last few years and the leadership they have provided us all. I would also like to welcome Fahad to the role of Chairperson and Harry to the post of Secretary. I look forward to working with you both long into the future

 

Following on from the succesful Stonegrove ASB forum we started last year, we are trying to follow a similar path with regards to the north Broadfields area. In effect, these meeting groups are made up of Police and partner agencies such as housing associations and youth services providers. Together, we look to respond to issues in a unified response to best tackle ASB and other issues. There has certainly been a reduction in issues in the Stonegrove area and I'm hopeful we can have a similar impact in the Broadfields. We are also working with the Hale Ward team in this venture as they cover the Fairmead Crescent and Kenilworth Road areas in Broadfields.

 

Crime Prevention Advice

 

If you have one of those double glazed UPVC front doors, please make sure you lock it! We have seen recent burglaries where doors have been forced or opened easily due to the residents forgetting to lock the door. Many door handles won't open from the outside without the key, however if its not locked, then the locking bars in the door won't be in place, making it easier to force and a small hand through the letterbox could well be able to pull the handle on the inside and open it.

 

Also, please don't leave keys on a shelf or hook close to the front door. We are seeing incidents where they are 'lifted' by use of a pole and hook pushed through the letterbox... it sounds crazy, but think about how easy it actually is. Very often, car keys are taken in this way also... By simply finding a better place to leave your keys, you will be safeguarding your property from this type of crime.

 

Use timer switches to turn your lights on in the evening when you are out. It gives the impression that someone is in. We have a limited supply of these to give out. Please e mail us if you'd like one dropped off.

 

If you can, consider locking your wheelie bins behind a side gate. When left on the driveway, they can easily be moved and used as a step up to climb over a side gate or onto an extension / garage roof, making the back. side or 1st floor of your home vulnerable to break in. If you don't have a side gate, then consider fixing a small metal bracket to the front of your house and chaining the bins in place.

 

Property mark your possessions with an ultra violet pen. Should anything be stolen and subsequently recovered by the Police, the property mark will allow us to return it to its rightful owner. We have lots of property marking kits to give out. Please e mail us to request one and we'll drop it off to you.

 

If you would like a member of the team to come round and check your home security and provide advice, please send an email with contact details and we will attend as soon as we can.

 

We're also sending out updates on e mail now, if you'd like to receive these, please forward your email address to the team and we'll add you to our database.

 

 

December 15th 2010

 

We are seeing a rise in burglaries around the area currently. The team has stepped up its patrols and is delivering crime prevention advice to residents in the Broadfields area particularly. In the meantime, if you want a member of the team to attend your home and give advice about your home security, please contact us and we'll make an appointment.

 

December 2nd 2010

 

Heres a quick update on incidents locally.

 

Nutmeg, our youth organisation partner, were shortlisted for the Community Champions Award at the Spirit of London Awards last week. It was a fantastic achievment for the group to be up there on that level and I'd like to say a big well done to Darwin, Rui and Claudio for all the hard work they have put into the Nutmeg Community.

 

Issues on Stonegrove have reduced dramatically from the heightened tensions we witnessed a few months ago. We have put many extra patrols into this area as well as conducting a number of search warrants. Higher numbers of arrests have been made as a result of these efforts and its gratifying to see this reduction in issues. Having said that, there is still youth ASB in this area which we will continue to challenge.

 

Youth ASB in Broadfields has increased over the last few months, we are now targetting more patrols to the Bushfield Crescent and Glengall Road areas to try and impact on this issue.

 

In the run up to Christmas we will also be trying to spend as much time on Station Road as we can. Traditionally, we see a rise in shoplifting and pick-pocketing offences at this time. We are working closely with the shopping centre management and security team and the stores as well as putting in operations to target offenders. One recent operation saw a team of plain clothes officers coming in to support us on a two day operation. This was very succesful and we effectively stopped all crime offences in the Station Road shopping area over the two day period.

 

We've also been working closely with the Station Road Business Forum which has started recently. Together, we recently ran a fancy dress treasure hunt for children, where theyhad to visit specific shops around Station Road and gather clues for their treasure maps. The event was a great success and I'd like to pass on my congratulations to all those who organised. The Forum has just started its own website, www.edgwaretown.co.uk Take a look. We're also in planning to help put their next event on which will involve different music groups playing in Station Road on 9th Dec, see their site for detail.

 

Working in partnership with Nutmeg, we've also put on a further youth concert and workshops on in recent months, which once again saw huge numbers of young people participate. Watch out for Nutmeg's new website, which should be loading up soon.

 

Following on from winning the MPS Diversity award 2010, the Edgware team went and received the award, along with a Deputy Commissioners commendation and followed this up when we were awarded an assistant commissioners commendation for innovative problem solving at the thinking outside the box event. Big well done to the team.

 

We've called in London Street Rescue over recent months to try and find accomodation for homeless people who are seen in and around Station Road recently. With particular thought to the cold weather snap we're in, we have successfully gotten acomodation for two homeless men.

 

We are maintaining our efforts to support members of the public and bus drivers up at Canons corner, with our daily patrols around the 107 and 142 bus stops in that locallity. This relates to the large number of students who catch the bus every afternoon in that area during the week. If you ever wonder why there are a number of officers in that area, as well as managing the boarding of buses, we also implement the safe crosing of Spur Road as literally hundreds of students can run across when a 107 turns up, as well as supporting the Tesco Garage and McDonalds by maintaining good behaviour in their establishments, at these times as well.

 

As well as the search warrants we have effected in the Stonegrove area, we have also carried out similar operations around other areas in the ward. We will continue to target those offenders who impact on the local community.

 

 

September 2010

 

Apologies for the delay in updates, however its been a very busy summer period.

 

A serious incident occurred in Green Lane on Thursday. Please see the Met Police website for press releases and any updates.

 

We have seen a rise in anti social behaviour around the Stonegrove Estate area over recent months, which has led to an increase in our patrols there. Allied to these patrols, we have also targeted drug supply in the area and have subsequently carried out five search warrants at residential addresses. These warrants have led to the arrests of five people to date. We will continue to target those who commit crime within our ward in the future and I will keep you updated with our progress.

 

The Edgware Team have been awarded 1st place in the Met Police Diversity awards 2010, for our efforts at youth engagement through the Nutmeg Project. Its some fantastic recognition for all concerned and I'd like to congratulate everyone connected with Nutmeg and thank them for the time and effort they have put into this project. Our next event is being held on Saturday 25th September at the Parish Hall, Rectory Lane from 5pm to 9.30pm. Please come along and join in.

 

We have concentrated our patrols recently in the Station Road area as well as Stonegrove. This has been in response to ASB in these areas. We have tried to maintain patrols in north Broadfields also, however the other areas mentioned are taking priority currently.

 

We're in the middle of the High Holy Days currently. We have put dedicated patrols in place to support and reassure the community as they walk between places of worship.

 

We've held many street briefings in recent months and taken issues raised to the local ward councillors. Many problems have been resolved and I would request that if you have neighbourhood issues, that are Police or Local Authority based, please let me know and I will pass on to whoever is responsible. We can (and have) make a difference.

 

Well thats all for now,

 

Sgt Dan

 

 

April 13th.

 

Wow, we held a youth diversion event with Nutmeg (our partner youth organisation) on Saturday 10th April at the Parish Hall in Rectory Lane and it was amazing. The event was called Inspire, and included various stands from other partner organisations as well as workshops, all designed to encourage young people to make positive choices in life. The workshops particularly were fantastically well attended. The concert element was once again, truly inspiring. Around 500 young people attended and enjoyed street dance acts, soul singers, hip hop artisits and several dance offs... all in all it was a great success. Big thanks go out to the Nutmeg crew, Big thanks to Laurence, Claudio, Mandy, Susie and the countless others who gave their time to make it all work...Youth Diversion is one of our team's priorities, set by our ward panel. We Policed the event to make it a safe environment for all those attending, and I'm very happy to report that all those attending behaved themselves very well. Heres to the next event...

 

We held a street briefing in Bushfield Crescent on Sunday, where it became apparent there are some issues with youth ASB in the area. We will be increasing our patrols in this locallity as a result, as well as trying to get utillity companies and other organisations to clean up their equipment in the area.

 

The Schools have been off for Easter hols, and things have been a tad quieter as a result around Station Road and the transport hub... They're all back next week, and in particular, the new Broadfields School will be opening its doors for the first time. We'll be up and around this area during drop off and pick up times to ease traffic issues as parents work out best places to drop and collect etc...

 

March 29th

 

We Policed the annual "Walk of witness" (Church procession) on Palm Sunday, utilising members of the team on bikes and foot, we effected rolling road blocks to get the procession safely through Station Road, the High Street, Manor Park Crescent and into the Broadwalk car park. I just wanted to say well done to the team and congratulate the local Churches on a marvellous turnout for the event. Good to see Larry the Donkey making his annual appearance in Edgware.

 

A few months ago, a terrible incident took place in Manor Park Crescent, when a young man strangled a dog to death in front of its owner. Our own PCSO De-Jesus was first on scene and was able to pin point a block of flats where the suspect had run to. He was subsequently traced and arrested. In an update to this incident, the suspect was this week sentenced to 3 years in prison.

 

 

March 2010

 

Its been a very busy couple of months sice my last update.

 

Issues relating to our priority on the Stonegrove Estate have taken up most of our time. I have increased our daily patrols in this area as a result of groups of young men congregating there. We have subsequently seen a rise in stop and search here as well as a rise in arrests for drug offences. We have augmented our efforts with patrols from other squads as well. Whilst we try to combat drug issues, we have also seen a sharp spike in burglary offences throughout the Stonegrove Estate. We have subsequently tailored our patrols and are now walking through blocks at peak times. We have subsequently seen this spike decline rapidly.

 

Crime prevention advice for Stonegrove Estate residents

 

Make sure you put the chubb lock (deadbolt) on if you go out. Many of our burglaries have been at homes where only the yale / top lock was on.

When you're at home, we would also advise you either put the chain on the door or lock the chubb lock (deadbolt)

 

In respect of our youth diversion priority, we are working with the Nutmeg community and planning our next youth event. It will be held on Saturday April 10th 2010 at the Parish Hall in Rectory Lane, Edgware. The doors will open at 4pm, there will be workshops, stands, a concert, free giveaways and free refreshments. This event isa called "INSPIRE" and its hoped that many young people from the wider Edgware area will attend.

 

We are starting to see a rise in anti social behaviour up in the Broadfields Estate currently. This mainly equates to a large number of youngsters loitering in the area. With no youth facilities or areas available to them in this locallity, we have adopted an approach of encouraging these young people to move into Stoneyfields Park, rather than loiter in the bus shelters in Bushfield Crescent and Glengall Road. We are working in tandem with the Hale team on this issue as well as attempting to start a dialogue with the local authority to put some youth facillities in place somewhere in the north Broadfields.

 

Pickpocket offences remain an issue in the Station Road area. We are putting patrols through the bank foyers, shopping centre and Station Road generally to target those involved, as well as utillising plain clothes patrols and advice surgeries. We received some funding recently and obtained some purse alarms, handing out over 100 of these to ladies from our advice stand. As this issue continues, please make sure you look after your belongings. If you know any elderly ladies or mums with prams who are going to this area, please remind them not to leave their handbags on show in shopping trolleys or prams/buggies, whilst they turn their back or walk off to another part of a store. This scenario encompasses the vast majority of reported incidents of bag thefts / pick pocket incidents in this area. By being aware of the situation and improving personal security we can reduce these offences greatly. We continue to work in partnership with the Broadwalk on this matter.

 

 

January 2010

 

Happy new year to you all, its been a while since I last gave an update, so I've tried to capture as much as I can below....

 

The team has changed somewhat in the last few months... PC Aki Akiwumi has left us having been promoted to Sergeant on a transport team in Harrow Borough, whilst PC Steve Garty has also moved on transferring to the Royal Parks OCU in central London. PCSO's Steve Renny and Dionne Greene have both left the team to start training as Police Officers at Hendon. We wish them all every success for the future, and I'd like to offer a personal thanks for all the hard work and effort they have put into Edgware...

Replacing them all are.... PC's Steve Lucas and April Mcalister (April is with us on a 6 month attachment) and PCSO's Laura Bowen and Enzo Bertolone..... We also borrowed PC Rose Shephard from Hale for a month.... Big welcome to them all...

 

We've Policed the High Holy Days through September and October, and I'm very glad to state that there were no incidents in the Edgware area. Thanks to the team for putting up with me during these festivals as we had to change many shifts to provide coverage....and thanks to the community and local Synagogues who kept us updated with issues etc...

 

The new interactive Police Kiosk has been plumbed in, adjacent to Marks and Spencers at the Bus Station entrance to the Broadwalk Shopping Centre... its a touch screen system where you can discover information about the Police and also report some crimes. Its the 1st such kiosk placed anywhere in London outside of a Police Station so we're very pleased to have it in Edgware... please come along and have a go..... its there for the community

 

The team have also Policed the annual Remberance Day Parade from Broadhurst Avenue down to the War Memorial in the High Street and back again. It was great to see so many people in the parade this year, and a big thanks to all those from the local Royal British Legion and CST who made the day a great success.

 

Following feedback from the community, we are changing the way we hold Street Briefings. All these type of meetings will now be held on Sundays, rather than weekday evenings.... please see the surgeries page for dates and locations...

 

We have also worked in partnership with the NUTMEG team to put on a 4th youth diversion event... everyone2gether (e2g4), which was held in the Parish Hall, Scout Hut and Quakers Meeting House in Rectory Lane. Once again, the event was a huge success with in excess of 600 young people in attendance. I am often quite taken aback by what can be done if you put your mind to it... suffice to say... big well done to the NUTMEG team.... keep up the good work...

 

We have put in place several operations in and around Edgware in recent months, in an effort to catch those involved in crime. This has led to many arrests and also a large number of vehicles being seized by the team.Unfortunately I can't go into great details, but suffice to say, we have made strong inroads ....

 

We also Policed the Stonegrove Fun Day as well as running a stand. Nutmeg provided the entertainment.... and all in all, it was a great day.... Tesco provided refreshments to all those attending and with the many varied stands and stalls it was an entertaining say.

 

We still run a weekly advice surgery for the public to be able to come and have a chat about issues... and have recently updated it by staffing it with officers from not only our team, but also from Canons and Edgware Wards in Harrow... This gives us the availability to work with other Police Teams and provide the Edgware public with a more fulsome service.

 

We have held several Ward Panel Meetings since my last update, please see the psp's page for an update of our priorities locally. We have also taken part in many other partnership meetings, particularly neighbourhood watch meetings, residents association meetings and Jewish Focus Groups.

 

As part of our ongoing youth diversion priority, we have also run several football tournaments and have also actively assisted in supporting the Stonegrove Youth Club throughout the Summer Holiday period. We were also in a position to donate an xbox games system and 20 games to the Stonegrove Youth Club, it having been seized as proceeds of crime....

 

We have helped implement a new shop watch radio system in the Station Road area... its still early days but things are looking promising..

 

Of course we provided patrols throughout the Halloween and Fireworks period... I'm able to say that there were fewer incidents of anti social behaviour this year than in previous ones..

 

We have continued to work towards reducing incidents around our priorities.... set by the Ward Panel... as well as providing daily coverage throughout the Ward..

 

and thats about it for now... I will give more regular updates in the future

 

be careful around the snow and ice

 

Sgt Dan