Details Announced of Next Public Meeting on Crime in Chiswick

Borough commander to answer questions on policing

Police officers in Chiswick Town Hall at a previous public meeting

October 1, 2023

Details of the fourth public meeting to be held over the last few years on the issue of crime in Chiswick have been announced.

Local Conservative councillors have organised the event at Chiswick Town Hall on Monday 16 October in response to growing concern from local residents.

There will be a chance to ask questions of local police officers and the borough commander and the meeting has been organised specifically for residents and business ratepayers to find out about police operations in Chiswick. This time the focus is likely to be on shoplifting, drug dealing, car theft, theft from cars, bike theft, doorstep thefts, burglary and safety on the streets as well as police numbers and visibility.

This public meeting follows the meeting held on 1 September for retailers concerned about shoplifting, many of whom feel it has become increasingly brazen and they are worried about its effect on residents' confidence in shopping and eating out locally as well as Chiswick’s reputation as a destination.

Councillor Ranjit Gill, Conservative spokesman on crime and policing, said, “We know from our email inboxes, residents’ WhatsApp groups, and from bumping into residents when we are walking round our wards, that there is a very high level of concern in Chiswick about crime and a strong sense that it seems to be out of control locally. We also know that everyone wants to see more police on the streets and that they regret the closure of the police station. Our area police team, led by the west area borough commander chief superintendent Sean Wilson, will give us an update on the current state of policing, including numbers and roles within Chiswick and the borough, what the plans are for the future of neighbourhood policing in Chiswick, and answer your questions."

In a presentation to Hounslow council’s overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, 26 September, chief superintendent Sean Wilson reported that all three Hounslow Chiswick’s ward teams are now up to full strength, with two PCs and one PCSO in each ward. He is expected to outline, at the public meeting, the support ward police teams have from the wider police force in the borough and his plans for policing in Chiswick and the borough.

Cllr Gill hopes residents will be free to come to the meeting and will raise whatever issues concern them, just as they did at the previous public meetings organised by Chiswick’s Conservative councillors. Those meetings were held on 19 December 2018 at St Michael & All Angels, Bedford Park; 28 March 2019 at Chiswick Town Hall; 4 October 2022 at Chiswick Town Hall.

Residents and business ratepayers are welcome. There is no need to book and doors open at 6.30pm. Chiswick Town Hall is at Heathfield Terrace (W4 4JN).