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, and in particular Darwin who put his heart and soul into making this the event it was. Big thanks also 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

 

 

 

10th May 2009

 

Hello Edgware, welcome to my latest Diary update.

 

We have held several street briefings over recent months, at Fernhurst Gardens, Campbell Croft, Springwood Crescent and St. Margarets Road. These meetings are targeted at particular streets where residents in those localities can come and talk to us about specific issues that effect their neighbourhood. For a list of future briefings please see the Public Surgeries and meetings page for details.

 

The team were made aware of a brothel that opened in a flat in Station Road. Complaints about this venue included sexual acts being performed outside the entrance in Rectory Lane in full view of passing members of the public. We subsequently raided the premises with officers from the Vice Squad and found several working girls inside. I'm glad to say that this premise has shut its doors permanently and that the flat has been returned to the managing agent to re let.

 

We have held two Ward panel meetings since my last entry, as well as the AGM. Our priorities have changed slightly as a result of these meetings. They are now:
1) Reduce incidents of pick-pocketing in the Station Road shopping area,
2) Reduce incidents of drug dealing in the Stonegrove Estate area
3) Reduce incidents of criminal damage to the Springwood Crescent car park
4) Provision of youth diversion events
I'm pleased to say that issues in the Glengall Road area have quietened down, and that we were successful in campaigning for a CCTV camera to be placed at that location. It has been a great success so far.

 

I was lucky enough to be invited to a "community" reception at 10 Downing Street by the local MP, Mr Andrew Dismore. I'd like to say a big thank you to Mr Dismore for recognising the work of the Edgware SNT, it was a wonderful evening and I recognise what a great privilege it was to have been invited.

 

In January, the Team provided Police coverage at the Holocaust Memorial Day at Middlesex University in Hendon.

 

We have also provided dedicated patrols in and about Edgware, through the festivals of Purim and Passover. I'm happy to state that there were no anti-Semitic incidents through this period.

 

We worked in partnership with the NUTMEG Community and held a further youth concert at the Parish Hall in March. The event - "1 Borough 1 Voice" was a great success, with over 750 young people attending from around Barnet and the environs. In particular, this event made provision of workshops where issues such as carrying knives and joining gangs were discussed, as well as teaching street dance to many yp's. Once again, I am glad to report that there were no incidents and that all those attending were impeccably behaved. The concert provided some fantastic music and dance groups as well as promoting positivity to yp's. Partner agencies on this event included Barnet Homes, SFSG and Barnet YOF. Once again, we are indebted to many people in relation to making these events happen, and in particular Darwin, Claudio, Rui, Zara, Zanna, Fahad, Tim, Laurence, Emma and Merlin - without you, we couldn't do this… big WELL DONE !!!!!

 

We are members of a monthly pubwatch meeting, the watch incorporates all pubs in the Barnet wards of Edgware and Burnt Oak, and the Harrow wards of Canons and Edgware (yes, Edgware is so good they named it twice), as well as many in the Mill Hill and Hale wards. This watch maintains a list of people who are barred from entering any pub on the watch. To support the licensees, we often provide walk thoroughs of the pubs close to us, however at the request of licensees from other pubs, we are now expanding this with the aim to extend patrols to every pub in the watch area. We started these extended patrols this weekend working in conjunction with Officers from the Canons Team.

 

The latest team newsletter has been completed and is available on the publications link on this site. It has also recently been delivered to (hopefully) every home in Edgware ward. Please let us know what you think about the content.

 

The team recently executed a search warrant at an address believed to be a cannabis factory. We seized a large quantity of herbal cannabis at this location as well as a large amount of hydroponics equipment. This case is ongoing currently so I cannot go into details, suffice to say it was very satisfying to get such a large amount of drugs off the streets.

 

We have also supported the local Churches, by policing the recent Walk of Witness procession through Station Road and its environs at Easter. I'm happy to say that a great many people took part and had a good time.

 

A new team of Officers has started working in and around Edgware Bus and Tube Stations. The Edgware Hub Team has the remit to deal with issues on transportation routes as well as the roads these routes travel along. They will only be working in the Edgware and Hale areas, from my perspective, its fantastic to have them in the area as it now allows us the facility to expand our patrols to other areas of the ward at key times in the day when we may have been otherwise engaged in the bus station area. So, a big welcome to Sergeant Campbell and his team.

 

PCSO Steve Renny was recently afforded the position of Barnet's PCSO of the month for March 2009. Big well done to Steve, this was a well-deserved award.

 

The team have made a fair number of arrests since my last diary entry, with many coming from the PCSO's spotting people committing offences. Several notable arrests include chasing and detaining three burglary suspects fleeing from a scene, as well as two suspects who had just robbed the son of a local Rabbi. The team have also been very proactive in recent months, seizing a number of vehicles from drivers who have no licence or no insurance. This is a fairly new scheme, but it has had a big impact on those who choose to ignore the law in this area.

 

Well, I think that's about it for now….. Please get in touch if you have any queries or concerns about the policing of this area…. Best regards

 

Sergeant Dan

 

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12th January 2009

 

Happy New Year to you all.

 

Since my last diary entry we've had a bit of movement in the staff on the team, with PC Holly Brand moving back to Colindale and PC Aki Akiwumi replacing her, as well as PCSO Mark Prentice moving to Hendon SNT and PCSO Laura De-Jesus replacing him.

 

Some bad news to start with… Several businesses have closed up shop recently in Edgware, which is a great shame. What with the credit crunch and the roadworks in Station Road, times are obviously difficult, but I'd push the point that if we all try and support our local shops, then we may just stop someone else having to close down…

 

PCSO Steve Renny has passed both exams to become a Police Officer and along with PCSO Dionne Greene, they are waiting for start dates for their Police training. Good luck to both of them and a big well done…

 

The annual Remembrance Day march took place on 9th November, from The British Legion in Parnell Close down to the War Memorial in the High Street. We facilitated the march with rolling roadblocks and street closures and I'd like to thank all those who came along on the day and took part. This was my fourth year policing the remembrance march in Edgware, and it's a shame to say that numbers seem to be dwindling.

 

We held a ward panel meeting in November, our priorities remained unchanged, being to reduce youth ASB and drug dealing in Stonegrove, reduce youth ASB and drug dealing in Glengall Road area, provide youth diversion projects and reduce pick pocket offences in the Station Road area.

 

The team have given talks at several local Schools since my last diary entry… thanks to the Schools for inviting us along… Edgware Junior, Rosh Pinah, Yeshuran and London Academy…. And in particular, thanks to Dionne for taking this role on.

 

We have also held a blue badge operation in the Station Road area, where we targeted those who use disabled badges fraudulently when parking their vehicles (i.e.; using someone else's pass to avoid parking restrictions). This led to several arrests and many tickets being issued. We will continue to hold operations like this in and around Edgware.

 

The team have made a fair number of arrests in the last couple of months and I'm led to believe we were the highest arresting SNT on Barnet Borough during the month of November.

 

With tensions rising in other parts of the world, we have also committed recently to provide patrols around our local Synagogues on a daily basis. Until the situation calms, this will form part of our daily routine.

 

We assisted Trading Standards from Yorkshire on an operation at an address in Station Road. I can't go into details as its an ongoing matter, but it was good to be present at the venue when the warrant was executed as we were able to keep people calm and I'd like to think that we minimised any potential problems whilst the trading standards people did their thing.

 

We held a second Edgware 2gether (E2G) on 13th December at the Parish Hall in Rectory Lane. Along the same lines as our first event in September, this time round we had more groups performing and a whole lot more people attending. Around 500-600 people attended across the course of the event and I have to say that it was a real pleasure to see so many young people enjoying themselves listening to the fantastic groups performing. This event relates to our commitment to provide youth diversion events in Edgware, and perhaps the best thing to have come out of it is that we have assisted in starting up a new youth organisation "NUTMEG" who along with us and some other partner agencies, planned the entire event.

 

NUTMEG (a blend of different spices all mixed together) is made up entirely of local young people from the Edgware, Burnt Oak and Colindale area. Their commitment is to hold events like E2G and become a positive voice for young people in this area.

 

I would like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you in particular to Darwin and Claudio.. Without you, none of this would have happened…. I'm proud of you… as well as everyone else in the NUTMEG team.

And so onto the even bigger news that followed on from E2G. The event went so well, that Barnet Homes and another youth organisation "You Have A Choice" approached NUTMEG and asked them to put together a similar event in March / April marketed towards every young person in the Borough of Barnet. We are just starting out on the planning for that event… updates to follow…

 

If you're a young person and want to join NUTMEG, follow the link here or find it on the Links page.

 

We continue to hold our Police Contact Point in the Broadwalk Shopping Centre every Tuesday between 12.30pm and 5pm. If you would like to talk with a member of the team then please come down… we're usually next to Costa Coffee in the middle of the centre. In fact, last week, the Contact Point was taken over by NUTMEG during a huge T-shirt give-away… it was great to see all the young people who turned up on the day, there were literally hundreds…

 

Whilst out on patrol in Springwood Crescent the other day, we found several stolen cars in the vicinity as well as high levels of graffiti and criminal damage to one particular car park area. We have committed to try and get this area cleaned up, and are looking to work with local people to achieve this aim. If you wish to assist, then please get in touch.

 

We also took part in Operation Square in November, in and around Edgware tube and bus stations. Once again, there were several arrests of people carrying drugs, and once again we will bring this operation back.

 

And for my last entry, its my great pleasure to inform you all, that one of our ward panel members - Laurence, was recently presented with a Chief Superintendents Commendation in relation to all the hard work and time he gives us in Edgware. It's a richly deserved accolade, the first to go to a non-member of the Police and I'd like to thank him for everything he does in the area.

 

So that's it from me…. Until next time…..

Sgt Dan

 

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28th October 2008

 

Hello again and a happy Diwali to everyone.

 

Hello again, its been ages since my last update, sorry about that, but here are a few things we've been involved with over the last couple of months;

 

We have shut three cannabis factories down on the ward recently, all located in privately rented houses. Many cannabis bushes were seized along with a large amount of hydroponics equipment.

 

An armed robber, trying to flee from Police in Hertfordshire ended up in Edgware recently. After crashing his car he ran off through local streets and fields and was eventually caught by PC Garty from our team up at the Spur Road car boot site. Many different Police units were involved in this pursuit and it was by using his local knowledge of the ward that PC Garty was able to locate the suspect. A good job well done!

 

We have attended a number of School Fetes and fun days recently and run stands at each location. Thanks to the organisers of the fetes at Edgware Junior School, Broadfields Primary School and Edgware Infants School as well as the residents association on the Stonegrove Estate who ran the Fun day there. It was a pleasure to host a stand at each event and I hope that we'll be able to do even more next year.

 

Since my last post, we've held two ward panel meetings, which have gone very well. The team priorities remain as reducing ASB in Stonegrove area and Glengall Road area as well as reducing incidents of pick-pocketing in Station Road shopping area and also the youth priority, which is to provide more youth diversionary events in and around the ward.

 

We have also devised a newsletter, which should be delivered to every home in Edgware ward during the month of October. If you don't receive a copy, please get in touch and let us know. A copy of the newsletter has also been posted on the publications page on this web site.

 

I'd like to welcome a new member of staff onto the team, PCSO Myke Nyaoke who has come in to fill the void left when Neil Baldwin moved on. If you see Myke, please stop him for a chat and introduce yourselves. Hopefully, by the time you read this, we'll have updated Myke's details onto the meet the team page.

 

Perhaps the single biggest thing we've been involved with over the last couple of months has been a youth event we planned called Edgware 2gether. Working with young people from this area, we planned a large-scale music event for local young people to attend, where we could embrace positive messages about not carrying knives or joining gangs whilst at the same time exposing local youth to outside organisations who might be able to engage them in a positive manner. Aligned with Peace week, we held the event on the evening of 20th September in the Parish Hall and Scout Hut in Rectory Lane and I have to say that it was a great success. With music being provided by many local singers and groups, around 300 young people came in to see what was happening, and I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the following performers for taking part;

• Latin Clan
• Relentless Crew
• Natalie Walker
• Mickey Negro
• Toisin and Jasmine
• Hais Hassan
• Imohtep
• Malcolm
• Dotstar
• Tanya Valensi
• DJ Chipsta and
• Grupo Muzenza Capoiera,
  

As well as the representatives from the following organisations who all hosted stands or skills based events;

• Army Cadets
• Sea Cadets
• Air Cadets
• Scouts
• Princes Trust
• Stonegrove Youth Group
• London Borough of Barnet
• Barnet Bulldogs and
• Pinnacle Football Club

I'd also like to say a big well done to the members of NUTMEG, our steering group for this event, and in particular to Fahad, Laurence and Claudio who kept it all on track and especially to the main man at the event, Mr Darwin Bernardo who not only put it all together but also compared the entire event.

A lot of people thought this was a challenge too far for us, but I have to say that it was the young people attending who made this event the success that it was. There was no trouble at all and everyone embraced the positive messages provided through the media of music. My personal thoughts are that by embracing youth culture in this manner, we are more likely to engage young people and get real messages passed back and forth and that in our efforts to join all communities together, working in partnership with young people is the best way forwards…

As a follow up, we are now discussing our next event and how we can take our ethos to other parts of Barnet and then the rest of London. Small beginnings…

 

PCSO Dionne Greene has recently passed her assessments to become a Police Officer and will soon be moving onto Hendon Training College. I'd like to take the opportunity to say a big well done to her and that she'll be missed here in Edgware.

 

We've just finished the Jewish High Holy Days and the team provided dedicated patrols on each festival day to reassure the Jewish community. We now have 16 sites that we visit on our Sabbath and High Holy Day patrols. I have made a point of making sure we either walk or ride bikes on these patrols, so we have the opportunity to chat with the community on our rounds, as I'm aware its not necessarily around the Synagogues or overflows where problems occur, and to that end I can let you know that we had an incident on Rosh Hashanah where a young man from the Yeshurun community was robbed on his way home from Synagogue. PCSO's Steve Renny and Dionne Greene were on their patrols close by and upon being alerted of the situation they chased and caught the suspects and had them arrested by Police colleagues from Colindale. This was a nasty incident, however I believe it highlights the very reason why these patrols work so well.

 

The BBC undertook some filming last week in the Stonegrove Estate around Ware Court and Abingdon Court. We assisted with patrols in the area and worked with locals to assist the BBC with their efforts. If you'd like to see the programme they were making then its called "Barclay" and should be on around January time. I think it's a 2-part crime drama.

 

We have also held an anti terrorist workshop for local businesses and Synagogues. Operation Argus has been put together by the Home Office and is designed to make managers think of their responsibilities should an incident happen locally. The event was very well attended and there was a lot of positive feedback. Thank you to everyone who came along.

 

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Rabbi Collick and everyone at EMS who invited us along to a Kiddush there recently. In particular I'd like to thank Geoff and Laurence who provide so much assistance to the team and who always have an interesting story to tell! The kind words offered us at this event along with the dedication to the team of some orange trees in Israel were greatly appreciated by every member of the team. Please accept my heartfelt thanks for this great honour you have bestowed on us.

 

I recently attended the Church Way Neighbour Hood Watch meeting where we agreed to assist with finding paint and graffiti removal equipment, as well as undertaking to join in with graffiti removal days. Hopefully this is something we can get started soon.

 

We also held the latest Jewish Community Forum at EUS recently and updated the community with recent events and our plans for policing the High Holy Day celebrations. My thanks to Cllr Brian Gordon who chaired this meeting.

 

Since my last update, Barnet Homes have utilised their own neighbourhood wardens in and around the Stonegrove Estate area. This took place over a period of one month and I'm led to believe it was warmly received by local residents. From our point of view, it certainly assisted, as the wardens were able to liaise with ourselves in dealing with problem issues. I'm hopeful they may return sometime soon.

 

The interactive Police Kiosk is due to put in at the Broadwalk Shopping Centre during the month of November. I'll keep you updated re this….

 

The Met have introduced a new London wide telephone number when calling for NON-EMERGENCY matters. If you want to speak with someone at Colindale Police Station, you should now call 0300 123 1212. The number is part of the new 030 codes and is charged exactly the same as 020 numbers, so if you have free minutes on your phone, this number will use them. In EMERGENCY, you should still ALWAYS dial 999 and ask for the Police.

 

And that's about it from me…. For the time being…. I hope you enjoyed this latest update. If you have any issues or questions, then please get back to me via the contact buttons and I'll do my best to assist,

 

Bye for now,

Sgt Dan

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12th June 2008

 

Hello again, its been a while since my last diary entry, so here's the latest news from Edgware........

 

The Safe Depository Centre on The High Street was the subject of a Police operation over the last 10 days. This was part of a wider operation around London and involved the seizure of assets from criminal organisations. During this incident, Manor Park Crescent has been closed at the junction with the High Street and temporary barriers erected. Armed Police have been on scene for the duration of the operation. I appreciate there will be concern within the local community about legitimate assets being seized, however to claim your property back then please call 0800 030 4613 (8am to 8pm) to make arrangements.

 

Two knife arch operations have been held in Edgware Tube and Bus Stations in the last month. These operations are targeted towards those individuals who choose to carry knives and other weapons on the transport networks. I would like to thank the community for their patience and good humour in relation to any delays these operations caused, however I'm sure everyone would agree that public safety is of paramount importance, and to that end, there will be further similar operations in and around Edgware in the future. We will do everything we can to eradicate the menace of violent crime within our community.

 

We held our second annual football tournament in Edgwarebury Park last Sunday afternoon. Targeted at youth from the Stonegrove and north Broadfields areas, this youth diversion project followed on from last year in being a great success. Seven 6-a-side teams took part, including one from the Edgware SNT with the eventual winners being one of the teams from the Broadfields. The event also doubled as a charity fundraiser with Cancer Research being the benefactors. I'd like to thank all those who took part in this event, but particularly, thanks to Monique and Dionne for organising everything so well and thanks also to Bradley I. for his efforts in arranging the charity side of things and encouraging his peers to come along. I'd also like to thank McDonalds and Clive C. from KFC who provided food for all those taking part, as well as Marks and Spencer, Sainsburys, Wyvale Garden Centres and Poundland who provided water, light refreshments and cups for the event. Thanks also go out to Homebase and the Art Shop who provided materials for the day as well as Dave at Currys Digital for provision of a prize for the best Sportsman of the tournament. Finally, thanks to the staff at Edgwarebury Park for allowing this event to take place.
PS…. Dougie C. - I have never seen anyone eat as much as you in such a short period of time!!!

 

Something I'm immensely proud of, is an event that took place a few weeks ago. The Edgware team were placed as runners up in the Safer Neighbourhood Team of the year awards for 2007. There are 625 teams in London so it was a great achievement for the team. We attended New Scotland Yard and received our award from Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin. I'd like to take the opportunity to say well done to the team for their tremendous efforts throughout 2007 and also thank the ward panel and the local community for their efforts in assisting us. Together we really do make a difference.

 

We've also held a ward panel meeting since my last posting. The news from this is that the panel changed one of our priorities. We now include youth diversion as our youth priority. The football tournament mentioned above is part of our efforts in this area and more activities will follow throughout the summer.

 

We're working closely with Barnet Homes in the Stonegrove Estate area in relation to the control of dogs. We have also implemented the BARK initiative in conjunction with Barnet Homes and will be working closely with the community there to reduce incidents of dogs running around off the lead.

 

I attended the Church Way Neighbourhood Watch meeting recently and was heartened to see the large turn out of local people. Thanks to Peter D. for the invite, it was great to see NHW really working. Should anyone else like to join or start up a Neighbour Hood Watch then please get in touch and we'll assist you as best we can.

 

I'm keen to try and get some pictures onto the site, so hopefully, pretty soon we'll have posted some galleries up for you to see what we're up to in and around Edgware. If you have any issues or comments about the Edgware Team, then please feel free to get in touch.

 

Till next time

Sgt Dan

 

 

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15th April 2008

 

Welcome to the latest diary entry...

 

A bit of sad news for the team to start with. PC Mike Paton (or "Scottish" as the local kids call him) has now left the team and moved to another department at Colindale Police Station. I'd like to pass on our best wishes to Mike who has worked tremendously hard over the last two and a half years here in Edgware and wish him all the best for the future. You'll be missed! To temper this news however, I'm glad to say that PC Steve Garty has now moved to Edgware from the Oakleigh SNT. We're very lucky to have secured Steve's transfer, hopefully you'll get to meet him as he's out and about on patrols.

 

Our new Police Contact Point is up and running and proving quite popular. In the Mall every Tuesday afternoon between 12 noon and 5.30pm, take the opportunity to come and have a chat about local issues or fill in a brief questionnaire about the area.

 

We've held a couple of public meetings / street briefings since the last blog, one in the Wolmer Gardens area and one in the Stonegrove Estate area. I'm hopeful that a new neighbourhood watch scheme will be starting soon off the back of the Wolmer Gardens briefing and would like to thank everyone who came out on a cold night to listen to what I had to say. Parking issues in and around Green Lane seem to be a major talking point in the Stonegrove area, along with dogs off leads and youth facilities. We are following these points up and I'll update you with any progress in future reports.

 

We had a major event in Edgware a few weeks ago, with a scooter rally taking place.... starting at Hyde Park Corner in central London before finishing at the Royal British Legion in Parnell Close. This event had caused some issues in 2007 when it took place, so this year the Edgware and Hale SNT's worked in tandem to police the event. I'd estimate around 400 scooters were ridden around the Broadfields area to get to Parnell Close, and I'm glad to say that everyone seemed to have a good time and that there were no anti-social behaviour or noise nuisance problems reported at all. Well done to the organisers of the event as well as all those involved in policing the area.

 

Another large public event was the Walk of Witness, a large Church march that took place on Palm Sunday along Station Road and the High Street and ended up in the commuters' car park at the Mall. There were around 500 people taking part in the march, with live music and also a donkey involved. It was a tremendous occasion which included the congregations of many local Churches, and once again I'd like to say well done to the organisers for planning a great event. The culmination of the event was a mass donation of Easter eggs to the Mall's Easter egg appeal, and upon counting them, over 400 eggs were donated. These were subsequently given out to patients in the children's ward at Barnet General Hospital.

 

The team also provided dedicated patrols during the festival of Purim, supporting the Jewish community in the area. These extra patrols augmented our existing Sabbath patrols and I'm glad to say that no incidents were reported in the Edgware area during the festival period and everyone seems to have had a great time.

 

A toddler walk took place for charity a couple of weeks ago, from the Mall up to McDonalds at Cannons Corner. We provided a couple of officers to escort the group on its journey and apart from the weather, things went very well.

 

We held a ward panel meeting in March. The panel decided to keep our priorities unchanged. Our four big issues are (1) pick pocketing offences in the Station Road shopping area, (2) fear of crime in the Station Road area, (3) anti-social behaviour (ASB) and drug dealing in the Stonegrove Estate area and (4) ASB and drug dealing in the Glengall Road area. In relation to these issues, it would be fair to say that we are still getting too many pick pocket incidents in the shopping centre, whilst the ASB issues in Glengall Road seem to be moving back up towards Cromarty Road and Pentland Avenue.

 

We also held a Jewish community forum at Yeshurun. We hold these meetings twice a year and invite representatives from all local Synagogues, Jewish Schools as well as partner agencies to talk about issues surrounding the Jewish community. Thanks to Cllr Brian Gordon for organising this event.

 

In relation to crime figures, I've been researching this and found that since the Edgware team have been in place, reported crime has dropped for the third year in a row on Edgware ward. In our three years of existence, crime dropped 10% in the first year, then 12% the second year followed by 6% last year. Overall, that's a reduction of over 500 crimes a year in Edgware ward. Now I appreciate that probably not everyone reports crime, and that we all get suspicious about figures, however, I think we have made some real inroads since we first came to Edgware. Hopefully we can maintain these figures again this year.

 

Holly, Mike and Steve have all been busy making a fair number of arrests since I last made a report here, and while I can't be entirely specific, I can say that we've had a couple of robbery and burglary suspects in as well as people who have stolen lead sheets from roofs of houses in the area.

 

I'm also hopeful, that following some chasing up by the local Ward Councillors, the mirrors will be going up next week in the dogleg sections of Bakery Path.

 

One last topic of conversation before I go.... I'm hoping that in the next few months we will undertake a major project in conjunction with the London Academy, Barnet Homes, Stonegrove Residents Association and McDonalds, to decorate or (my new favourite word) "muralise" the building site hoardings around the regeneration areas on Spur Road.

 

Anyhow, until next time

Sgt Dan

 

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28th February 2008

 

Hello again and welcome to my latest diary entry

 

We made the local papers last week, with a story in the Barnet Press about this web site. We've received a lot of positive feedback about the site and I'm glad to say that more and more local residents are logging on and finding out about what we do. We're also receiving enquiries from neighbouring teams about setting their own web sites up, I'm glad to say that we seem to have started a ball rolling.........

 

Through a sponsorship deal with The Mall Edgware, we are now the proud new owners of a corporate exhibition stand. The design of the stand has been tailored to the Edgware area and will hopefully increase our public profile at our Police contact point. With the advent of this new stand, we will also be increasing the number of contact points / surgeries that we hold, so you should now find us in The Mall, every Tuesday between 12 noon and 5.30pm. I'm also hoping that we can extend this to incorporate surgeries on the Stonegrove Estate soon.

 

I'm pleased to tell you that PCSO Craig Hyder has returned to the Edgware team following a 3 month attachment on the Mill Hill team. We're very pleased to have him back... its been far too quiet without him...

 

I'm also very pleased to announce that PCSO Wayne Mercer has successfully applied to become a Police Officer. Its sad that he'll be leaving us, but fantastic that he's coming back to Barnet to work as a PC.... you never know... he might come back and work on the Edgware Team in the future... we wish him all the best...

 

There was a bit of disorder in the last couple of weeks centred around the local pubs. Extra patrols were posted on Friday and Saturday evenings and things quietened down very quickly. This is something we're keeping a close eye on.

 

We assisted the Barnet Safer Transport Team last week on an operation at Edgware Tube Station. A passive drugs dog and knife arch were utilised to check people travelling through the area. Several people were arrested as a result. Hopefully we'll be able to carry out operations like this on a regular basis.

 

We've had an update from the local ward Councillors in relation to the queries raised about Bakery Path (7th February diary entry). Requests have been made for the trees to be cut back along the path - to assist CCTV, and the mirrors for the "dog-leg" corners are on order and should be turning up soon. Thanks to Councillor Scannell for chasing this up for us.

 

If you have any issues or just want to have a chat about the local area and its Policing, then please get in touch,

 

Speak soon
Sgt Dan

 

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7th February 2008

Hello again and welcome to my latest diary entry.

We held a street briefing this evening for the residents of Brook Avenue and St. Margarets Road. The main points of concern from the residents in this area related to Bakery Path. Requests were made to seek assistance from the Local Authority to put mirrors up in the corners of the "dog leg" of this alleyway, to reduce the fear of crime for people walking through. Further requests made to ask for the CCTV coverage to be increased at this location, as the existing camera cannot see the section that runs down to St. Margarets Road. Thank you to all those who attended, it was nice to meet you all.

 

I also attended the Stonegrove Estate Community meeting tonight. The main issues in relation to Policing again concerned the residents' grave concerns over dogs running loose around the estate area. Mention was made of dog fighting and attacks on other dogs, as well as the dog attack in Hendon last week, where a young lady was savaged by a dog being walked off the lead. I did pass on my assurances that as a Police Service, we are liaising with the Local Authority and talking about Dog Control Orders ("DCOs") and the possibility of them being introduced locally. These orders would make it an offence, for someone to walk a dog off the lead in a designated area. My suggestion is that high-density housing estates should be made designated areas where the DCOs can be enforced. The Police and Police Community Support Officers ("PCSOs") would then have a power to issue fixed penalty notices to owners / people in charge of dogs who commit an offence. This would be a proportionate and measured response to the increasing dog attacks and provide a level of public safety in areas of multiple dwellings such as the Stonegrove Estate.

 

We Policed a Torah Scroll procession on Sunday 3rd Feb, along Edgwarebury Lane and over the A41. It was great to be able to assist with this event, and I'd like to thank my colleagues from the Special Constabulary who also came along and assisted.

 

We are currently working with St. Margarets Church along with other Churches in the Edgware, Burnt Oak and Colindale areas and are assisting in the planning of a large march on Palm Sunday 16th March. We will be policing this event, which will move along Station Road and finish in the Broadwalk car park. It was a great community event last year and it promises to be bigger and better this year, with a walking band and also a donkey being included this year. If you'd like to know more about this event, or would like to join in on the day, then please contact St. Margarets Church or myself for more information.

 

The regular Police surgery was held on Tuesday last, in the Mall. Not much to mention regarding requests from the public, however we are hoping to be in possession of a new corporate stand by the beginning of March, which will make us much more visible and more user friendly.

 

There have been a few incidents of disorder over the last week or so, and we have made a number of arrests and other interventions, including the issuing of on the spot fines for people urinating in shop doorways along Station Road. I can't really go into details, however, I would like to say that our job is to make Edgware a safer environment for everybody who comes through it. We have made some significant arrests recently in relation to public safety.

 

If you have any concerns or issues, then please get in touch and we'll do our best to assist you.

 

Until next time, regards to all,

Sgt Dan

 

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24th January 2008

Hello, welcome to my inaugural diary entry. I hope you like the EWP site, its a completely new idea for us on the Edgware team, and I'd like to say thanks to the ward panel and in particular Laurence, for setting it all up. I will try and keep this page updated throughout the next year to let you know what's been happening around the Edgware ward.

 

As part of our ongoing attempts at providing youth activities around the ward, we have secured the use of the Rolling Base mobile youth club fortnightly in the Stonegrove Estate and also fortnightly in the Cromarty Road area. This unit is a single decker bus which has been turned into a youth club, fully equipped with its own music mixing equipment, video games, music videos and more. The young people in these areas have provided positive feedback about its presence, and although we have agreed usage until April , we are hopeful that funding will be found to keep it in these areas throughout 2008. If you want to pop along to see the Rolling Base, its every other Tuesday (7pm - 9pm) in the Stonegrove (next one is 5th Feb) and every other Friday (6.30pm - 8.30pm) in Cromarty Road (next one is 25th Jan)

 

The latest pubwatch meeting took place last week, with all pubs in the Edgware, Burnt Oak, Edgware (Harrow), Canons (Harrow) and Colindale wards taking part, this scheme has made real inroads into dealing with problem customers who have threatened or used violence, or been involved in criminal activities in these venues. A large number of individuals have been banned from the pubs in the watch, and this has assisted in less trouble being reported generally in these establishments. If you're barred from one, then you're barred from all. An update from the pubwatch is that agreement is being sought to take on the barred lists from the Mill Hill and Hale pubwatch alongside our own..... watch this space for updates...

 

A meeting was held for Glengall Road residents last night, with the major topic of conversation being concerns over a Scooter club event being held on March 9th. This is advertised on the Internet and states the venue will be the British Legion. This is an update as the venue was shown as the Sparrow Pub last week. The corresponding event last year caused serious nuisance to local residents in the area around the Sparrow. A pledge was made at the meeting last night that both the Edgware and Hale SNT's will be on duty on March 9th to deal with any issues on the day.

 

I'm pleased to let you know that the Edgware SNT were put forward by Barnet Borough Police as their entry for the best SNT in London. We were awarded the runners up spot. I'd like to thank the team for all their hard work over the last year, its a tremendous accolade for them and to finish 2nd out of 312 teams in North London and also be in the top 4 Met wide is a great achievement.

 

I have tried to plan out all our public meetings for the coming year to give people notice of when and where they will be. Please take a look at the public surgeries and meetings page to see the list. As well as meetings, we will also be holding Surgeries for the public to come and have a chat and list any issues or concerns they may have. Currently, we hold a surgery in the Broadwalk on the first Tuesday of every month between 9am and 4pm, however, we will be upgrading this in the next month or so and will hopefully be holding the Broadwalk surgery once a week.... but watch this space and I'll confirm the details.

 

A lot of our issues in Edgware relate to drug use. Two of our problem areas (PSP's) set by the ward panel relate to us tackling anti social behaviour and drug dealing in the Stonegrove Estate and Glengall Road areas. As a brief update on these issues, I am pleased to let you know that in the last two months, six search warrants have been executed in these areas, quantities of drugs have been seized along with a hand gun at one location and a number of people have been arrested for drugs and firearms offences.

 

Dog offences are starting to become more apparent also. In recent months, dogs being walked off leads in the Stonegrove Estate area have killed another dog (whilst it was being walked on a lead) and also two cats. We have also received many reports of dogs fighting and being out of control in the same area. We are working closely with Barnet Homes to try and convince the local authority to enforce existing legislation "s.55 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005" which will allow the SNT's to tackle this issue by issuing on the spot fines to people walking their dogs off leads in designated areas. My main concern is that we nip this trend in the bud before something more serious occurs. I'll keep you updated with any movement in this issue, but in the meantime please feel free to convey your thoughts to myself or your ward councillors.

 

That's all for now,
Regards to all

Sgt Dan