Crime and ASB

Mobile muggings aside, which people seem to be aware of and vigilant about..http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/read/1/164101/page=4
Would you say that Southwark is becoming a safer place to live? Does it feel safer than other parts of London - say, at certain parts of the day?

[email protected] wrote:

Mobile muggings aside, which people seem to be aware of and vigilant about..http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/read/1/164101/page=4 Would you say that Southwark is becoming a safer place to live? Does it feel safer than other parts of London - say, at certain parts of the day?

Are you asking on behalf of Southwark Council?

Peter Davis wrote:

[email protected] wrote:

Mobile muggings aside, which people seem to be aware of and vigilant about..http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/read/1/164101/page=4 Would you say that Southwark is becoming a safer place to live? Does it feel safer than other parts of London - say, at certain parts of the day?

Are you asking on behalf of Southwark Council?

She sure is!!!!

Helen Laker
Community Involvement Project Worker at Southwark Council

Does it matter who she works for? Seems a reasonable question to me.

I've lived in Southwark for 5 1/2 years and have never felt unsafe in the area. I lived in Camden prior to that, and again never felt unsafe there but was once 'mugged' late at night, although partly my own fault having had one too many and being a bit naive.

The recent streak of window-smashing and the length of time it seems to be taking to catch this persistant and seemingly predictable offender is a bit of a worry though.

Why didn't you start your post with ... Violence against the person aside, would you say that Southwark is becoming a safer place to live ?

I am aware of two young girls who work at More London and who have been struck in the face whilst having their mobiles snatched and of a young man being attacked from behind at London Bridge and phone taken. I have stopped someone stealing my bike in Bermondsey Street and I was threatened. These incidents have occurred in the past 3 months.

No it is not safer and most certainly becoming more dangerous and there is insufficient Police action to crimes being committed. I have been in the area since 1987 and have noted and experienced a surge in crime over the past 12-18 months


I have just returned home today and informed that there was an attempted mobile snatching in Mill Street yesterday lunchtime by two young men on a moped. Similar looking young men on a moped also attempted to steal a bicycle in Jacob Street earlier in the week. The attempted theft was reported but Police unable to attend. I am informed that the culprits were still present when telephone call made.

It is this type of inaction that makes residents feel unsafe, when Police fail to respond to reported crimes, not matter how insignificant they are deemed to be by the Police.

I would further add, that on this website last week I reported two bicycles stolen. The description given of the thieves and taken from CCTV, very much matches the description given on this website of youths regularly carrying out mobile phone snatches along Tooley Street. So if the Police were willing and able to target the bicycle thefts, they may find a reduction in more serious crimes. Zero tolerance comes to mind.

May I also add that after reporting the theft of my bicycles, I was informed that an investigating officer would contact me, but 9 days have passed and nothing. I searched for 1-2 hours each day last week and eventually on Saturday I found one of my bikes for sale in a shop at the Elephant and Castle. I immediately telephoned the Police on 101 and was put through to Southwark Police for the call to go directly to answer phone. I searched and and found two Police officers on their beat , explained the situation and they accompanied me to the shop and they asked the shop owner to remove bike from the shop floor. I then obtained the crime report references and reported the incident to Borough Police Station and was informed that the bike would be collected and held in storage and that the investigating officer would contact me. Five days have passed and not a word. I don't know if the bike has been collected from shop and what action is being taken. I have made telephone enquiries this afternoon, but informed someone will get back to me. I have made an effort to find one of my bicycles and I expect the Police to make an effort in reuniting me with it and informing me as to what action is taking place.

So one more time....in answer to your question ...I don't feel at all safe in Southwark and I am very concerned for my children and my partner's safety.

Guy's street wrote:

Does it matter who she works for? Seems a reasonable question to me.

It matters who she works for if these questions are being asked officially by an officer of Southwark Council, perhaps as part of some consultation exercise, in which case her interest should be declared.

I agree,it does matter who is asking the question; if it's a developer wanting to build a huge block of flats in the area, I'd say it's really, really, really unsafe. If it's someone from the council I'd say get out of your office, call a public meeting and talk to people personally. If it's someone thinking of coming to live in the area, I'd say yes, it's very safe as it's generally well-lit and always lots of people around - will at least in my bit of SE1. But of course Helen doesn't know in which bit of SE1 I live so any answers won't really be helpful.

Sorry to be negative in my last 'post', but I don't think this forum is the right way to collect this sort of important information, much better to talk to people; perhaps attending TRA meetings would be a good way of doing this.

LondonStan wrote:

Why didn't you start your post with ... Violence against the person aside, would you say that Southwark is becoming a safer place to live ?
I am aware of two young girls who work at More London and who have been struck in the face whilst having their mobiles snatched and of a young man being attacked from behind at London Bridge and phone taken. I have stopped someone stealing my bike in Bermondsey Street and I was threatened. These incidents have occurred in the past 3 months.

No it is not safer and most certainly becoming more dangerous and there is insufficient Police action to crimes being committed. I have been in the area since 1987 and have noted and experienced a surge in crime over the past 12-18 months


I have just returned home today and informed that there was an attempted mobile snatching in Mill Street yesterday lunchtime by two young men on a moped. Similar looking young men on a moped also attempted to steal a bicycle in Jacob Street earlier in the week. The attempted theft was reported but Police unable to attend. I am informed that the culprits were still present when telephone call made.

It is this type of inaction that makes residents feel unsafe, when Police fail to respond to reported crimes, not matter how insignificant they are deemed to be by the Police.

I would further add, that on this website last week I reported two bicycles stolen. The description given of the thieves and taken from CCTV, very much matches the description given on this website of youths regularly carrying out mobile phone snatches along Tooley Street. So if the Police were willing and able to target the bicycle thefts, they may find a reduction in more serious crimes. Zero tolerance comes to mind.

May I also add that after reporting the theft of my bicycles, I was informed that an investigating officer would contact me, but 9 days have passed and nothing. I searched for 1-2 hours each day last week and eventually on Saturday I found one of my bikes for sale in a shop at the Elephant and Castle. I immediately telephoned the Police on 101 and was put through to Southwark Police for the call to go directly to answer phone. I searched and and found two Police officers on their beat , explained the situation and they accompanied me to the shop and they asked the shop owner to remove bike from the shop floor. I then obtained the crime report references and reported the incident to Borough Police Station and was informed that the bike would be collected and held in storage and that the investigating officer would contact me. Five days have passed and not a word. I don't know if the bike has been collected from shop and what action is being taken. I have made telephone enquiries this afternoon, but informed someone will get back to me. I have made an effort to find one of my bicycles and I expect the Police to make an effort in reuniting me with it and informing me as to what action is taking place.

So one more time....in answer to your question ...I don't feel at all safe in Southwark and I am very concerned for my children and my partner's safety.

Stan, do you think there's a link between the increase in these sorts OK f crimes and the change in population of the area? It strikes me that in just the 5 years I have lived here it seen a big change with more luxury flats, big business spreading south of the river, and more of the young professional city type crowd. Perhaps this is encouraging more crime?

Guy's Street, I don't think your proposition is correct. I suspect the change in demographic has led to more reports of crime being made to the police and to a more vocal population. The increase in gang culture among the youth also has a role to play, but that occurs throughout big cities. There's plenty of street crime in Eltham (as an example of a less desirable area) but equally my friend's son suffered a robbery for his mobile in Hampstead.