A noticeable rise in the number of prostitutes working in the Tulse Hill and Brixton Hill areas has followed the disbandment of Brixton Police’s dedicated Vice-Squad.  I am very concerned about this and residents are questioning what the Police and the Council are doing about it.

Myself and local Labour Cllrs Toren Smith, Ade Aminu and Marcia Cameron have worked with local residents to come up with some suggestions.  We are proposing the following:

• More Police resources devoted to assist the local Safer Neighbourhood Police team with an early review of the impact of the loss of the vice-squad;
• The Council should put pressure on London Mayor Boris Johnson to speed up the delivery of the new gate at the Brixton Hill end of Josephine Avenue;
• The Council should begin working up an area wide traffic management plan to stop kerb crawling, so that any displacement from the closure of Josephine Avenue can be dealt with swiftly;
• The Council should limit the 3am opening hours of the off-licences on Brixton Hill to discourage pimps and prostitutes from the area; and,
• The Council needs to address the derelict site at 85 Brixton Hill.

I have met with both Council my colleagues and the Police to let them know of residents concerns.  If you have any further comments to make, please let us know your suggestions using the Contact page here.

There is considerable alarm about the gun and knife crime on our streets today. It seems that not a day goes by without a media report of a stabbing or shooting incident in London.

Here in Streatham, the shooting of 16 year old James Andre Smartt-Ford at Streatham Ice Rink (outside which I am pictured with a youth worker) on 2 February 2007 was one of the first in a wave of teenage murders to come to national prominence. Months later, on 22 October 2007, there was the shooting of Gary “Curry Cat” Guthrie at the Starlight Room nightclub behind the Ice Rink (the trial of the seven men accused of his murder takes place in January). On 31 March this year a teenager was shot in the face on Tierney Road. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Each and every incident is shocking, all the more so when it results in death. Unfortunately I have not had time to do justice to these issues in a post on this website this week, but I do intend to blog in much greater detail in this regard in the coming months. For the moment, here are some brief thoughts.

Firstly, I think it is important to get these issues in perspective. Yes there is a problem – no one would deny that when faced with the statistics of young people tragically killed over the last 18 months – but it is still a minority engaging in this kind of violence. The Home Office estimates that just 5% of young people are responsible for half of all youth crime, so lets not demonise the majority of them.  Mark Easton, BBC News’ Home Affairs editor (right) did a very good blog this week on our teenagers – “10 reasons to cheer our teenagers” – which is well worth reading.

Secondly, knife and gun crime is not the sole preserve of young people as the murder of Gary Guthrie demonstrates. Guthrie was aged 35 and all those charged with his murder are aged 20 or over. Lets not forget there is knife and gun crime being committed across all age groups which must be addressed.

Thirdly, the government is taking action, not only to crack down hard on those committing these dreadful offences, but also to prevent people getting involved in this kind of activity in the first place as the Youth Crime Action Plan published on Tuesday demonstrates.

Elements of the Youth Crime Action Plan include street based teams of youth workers and ex-gang members to tackle groups of young people involved in crime and disorder, giving the community the opportunity to say what type of work they want young people on community sentences to do undertake and expanding youth centre provision. This builds on measures we have introduced to tackle crime more generally such as Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

Whilst Mayor of London, Labour’s Ken Livingstone ensured money was devoted to allow Safer Neighbourhood police teams (SNTs) to be introduced into every ward in London (he did so in the face of opposition from the Conservative group on the London Assembly).  Each team is normally made up of six police and Police Community Support Officers. As the Met’s website says:
“Their aim is to listen and talk to you, and find out what affects your daily life and feelings of security. These might be issues such as anti-social behaviour, graffiti, noisy neighbourhoods, yobs or vandalism.”

Safer Neighbourhood Panels (SNPs), made up of 10-12 local people who live or work in the area nominated by the community, shadow the work of SNTs and ensure they are responsive to local needs. The Safer Lambeth Partnership which includes the Lambeth Council, the Metropolitan Police, the probation service, Lambeth Primary Care Trust, HM Prison Service and others, recently released details of the Streatham constituency’s SNPs’ priorities:

Brixton Hill: prostitution; dog fighting; and, burglary;

Clapham Common: street crime; youth engagement; and, burglary;

Thornton: burglary; anti social behaviour and gangs on Poynders estate and Cotton and Angus House; and, robbery of the person, specifically along Emmanuel Road;

Tulse Hill: prostitution around Josephene Avenue; anti-social behaviour on Cressingham Gardens; and, drugs on the St.Mathews estate;

Streatham Wells: anti-social behaviour, in and surrounding Albert Carr Gardens, SW16; and, motor vehicle crime on Woodleigh Gardens, SW16;

Streatham South: burglary; robbery; motor vehicle crime; and, anti social youth and street drinkers;

St Leonard’s: burglary; motor vehicle crime; and, anti social behaviour around Streatham Green & St Leonard’s;

Streatham Hill: anti social behaviour on Palace Rd, Hillside, and Killieser Avenue; cycling on pavements; and, street robberies on Streatham Hill. 

Tackling these problems is an absolute priority for me. Nationally, police numbers have increased by 14,000 since Labour came to power and we have introduced initiatives such as the Respect Agenda which aims to empower individuals and communities to combat anti-social behaviour and take control of their own areas.

But we have a lot more to do, not least on early prevention and ensuring that those who fall foul of the law are properly rehabilitated and do not enter prison only to exit and re-offend again. I do not pretend to have all the answers, so I would be interested to know what you think the solutions are - please do drop me a line with your thoughts here.

Gun and knife crime is a particular concern for residents of Streatham, Brixton Hill, Tulse Hill and Clapham, given some of the high profile reported incidents occurring here recently. Only a couple of months ago, on 31 March 2008, a 15 year old teenager was shot in Streatham.

The government has introduced a series of measures to deal with this violence, the latest being the new guidelines on the prosecution of those caught carrying knives.  From 5 June 2008, anyone - including teenagers aged 16 and over - caught carrying an illegal knife could face criminal charges, which marks a change in policy; for many years teenagers found carrying illegal knives were given a caution, if it was their first offence - now they may be prosecuted.  This measure alone will not solve the problem of young people carrying knives, but it will help and is therefore to be welcomed.