Survey Shows Low Levels Of Confidence In Police

Residents want more police patrols to combat rise in crime

(l-r , Sgt Sharma, Insp Dee O' Brien, Supt Gary Taylor, Torin Douglas speaking)

Three quarters of the Chiswick residents who responded to a survey on policing are not confident that the police can protect them from crime, and the majority (87%) feel that their area will be a worse place to live in the next twelve months.

Respondents overwhelmingly believe (95%) that police patrolling in their area would prevent crime. Nearly a quarter of all respondents (24%) report that they never see a police patrol in their area.

Residents who attended the recent public meeting on crime in December were invited to complete the survey. The analysis of the replies found that over half (57%) of respondents still feel that they were either 'very or quite safe' in their area. A total of 40% feel 'unsafe' and less than one in twenty (4.8%) felt 'very safe'.

The meeting, on the “The Future of Policing in Chiswick ” was organised by the nine Chiswick Conservative councillors and attended by local police officers headed by Superintendent Gary Taylor, the Deputy (West Area) Commander. Ruth Cadbury MP also attended.

Councillor Sam Hearn said that there had been 105 surveys returned, 65 gave their address as from the Hounslow borough part of Chiswick and 31 from Ealing borough.

While the survey cannot be taken as an accurate reflection of the views of all residents since the respondents were self-selecting, it gives an indication of how many local people feel about the current situation. Many believe the increase in crime is linked to the closure of the front counter at the Chiswick Police Station.

Rocks Lane has seen a number of reported incidents

Nearly three quarters (73%) of all respondents have witnessed a crime in their area. Over four fifths (81%) of the respondents from Ealing had witnessed a crime whilst the equivalent figure for Hounslow respondents was less than three quarters (72%).

A majority of respondents (59%) believe that they lived in an area with a medium crime risk rating, but a quarter of respondents (25%) believe that they lived in a high crime risk area.

Fewer than half of the respondents from Ealing (48%) feel 'very' or 'quite safe'. Most respondents (87%) think that their area would be a worse place to live in in the next twelve months. This result was the same for respondents from both Ealing and Hounslow. A little over one in ten (11%) of all respondents believe that their area would be a better place to live in the next twelve months.

Only 17% of respondents who are members of Neighbourhood Watch (NW) schemes believe that they lived in a high crime risk area whilst 30% of those who were not members of NW schemes believe that they live in high crime risk areas.

Fewer than half (45%) of the respondents from Hounslow have heard of the OWL website whilst the equivalent figure for Ealing respondents is more than half (55%). A third of all respondents (33%) have used the OWL website.

Three quarters (75%) of respondents who claim to be members of NW have heard of OWL. However only a little over half (54%) have used OWL. For those respondents not claiming to be members of NW less than a quarter (23%) have heard of OWL and only 16% say that they have used it.

The majority of respondents (76%) are dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied with the way the Police handle crime. The percentage is however lower for respondents from Ealing (71%) than for respondents from Hounslow ((81%).

The majority of respondents (69%) were dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied with the way the Police engage with the local community. The percentage was lower for respondents from Ealing (65%) than for residents from Hounslow (74%).

The majority of respondents (75%) are dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied with the way their Local Authority engages with the local community. The percentage is lower for respondents from Hounslow (64%) and higher for Ealing (80%).

Chiswick Back Common has seen a number of incidents

The majority of respondents (76%) do not think that the police are doing a good job in preventing crime in their area. This figure is higher for respondents from Ealing (80%) than for respondents from Hounslow (74%).

Whilst 17% of the respondents who were members of NW believed that the police are doing a good job preventing crime in their area only 9% of those who are not members of NW believe the same thing.

Nearly a quarter of all respondents (24%) report that they never see a police patrol in their area. However, 19% of the respondents from Hounslow report that they never see a police patrol in their area whilst the equivalent figure for Ealing respondents is 26%. Around an eighth of all respondents (12.3%) reported seeing a police patrol at least weekly or more frequently.

Also, whilst just over a fifth (21%) of the respondents who were members of NW schemes claim never to see a police patrol in their area this rises to over a quarter (26%) for those who were not members of NW.

Respondents overwhelmingly believe (95%) that police patrolling in their area would prevent crime.

A young man was stabbed in the tube station before Christmas

The majority of respondents (70%) are not confident that the police are capable of protecting them from crime. This lack of confidence is felt by a greater proportion of the respondents from Hounslow (75%) than those from Ealing (62%). However, 6% of Hounslow respondents and 16% for of respondents from Ealing felt unable to answer this question.

The majority of respondents (69%) are not confident that the police receive effective support from their Local Authority to protect them from crime. There was no significant difference between responses from Ealing and Hounslow. However, over a fifth of respondents (21%) were unable to answer this question.

The majority of respondents (59%) wish to be kept informed of the activities of local councillors in connection with police/crime related issues. Unfortunately, eighteen (29%) of those who wish to be kept informed failed to supply an email address or other contact details.

The distinction between Ealing and Hounslow respondents may not be important given the small number of surveys received from Ealing residents (31).

Just under half of all respondents (48) said that they were members of a NW Scheme.

OWL is a shared, secure platform for the public and local authorities to maximise the potential of NW and dozens of other schemes. OWL sends out the latest local crime alerts and provides management tools for maintaining and expanding watches.

There will be a follow up public meeting in March. There will be an update report from the police at the Chiswick Area Forum on the 5th of February.

Since 2010 the Metropolitan Police have faced £1 billion in budget cuts, from a budget of £3.7 billion and the number of police officers in London has decreased by 3,000, alongside a 3,000 decrease in community support officers, and 6,000 decrease in support staff.

In Hounslow the number of both police, and community support officers has decreased by 88 since 2010.

December 20, 2018