A recent public meeting attended by the local Police, Cllr Ray Morgon (Leader of Havering Council), Emerson Park Ward Councillors Laurance Garrard and David Godwin and around 200 Emerson Park residents, heard them voice concerns about the recent increase in criminal activity in the area.
To deal with this, a task force has been set up to target local burglaries. The issue of extra policing has been raised with London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who oversees Metropolitan Police Service financing.
The Police inspector present was keen to reassure residents that they were doing all they could to make our area safe again. He called upon people to ensure that cars are locked and, in particular, the use of steering locks and faraday bags for keys were essential to make theft of vehicles harder.
The leader of the Council advised that they are looking into greater CCTV usage and promoting the Safer Neighbourhoods Team through additional police officers funded by the council.
Cllrs David and Laurance urged residents to help the police by being vigilant and reporting any suspicious activity by dialling 999 if you suspect a crime is happening or 101 to report a none urgent suspicion that might help.
Residents could be get more involved with local safety by forming or joining Neighbourhood Watch groups and we have found that in many roads local WhatsApp groups have brought communities together and more able to look after each other.
Regular updates on local police activity can be found on the police website www.owl.co.uk . We will keep you updated on how the Police are progressing and hopefully we will be seeing more of a police presence on the streets of Emerson Park soon.
Cllrs Laurance Garrard and David Godwin
