MP's Concern Over Crime in East Acton | |
Angie Bray is pressing for more policing in the area
East Acton has the highest crime rate in the borough and the Police and Council need to take action says the local MP. The reported crime rate in the ward is almost twice the average rate for other wards in the Borough (109) - with 211 crimes on average per month, in comparison, Northfield - the safest ward - had 53.
Figures (pdf) from Ealing Conservatives show you are more likely to suffer from car crime or theft from the vehicle in East Acton than anywhere else in the borough and the ward is joint worst (with Perivale and Hanger Hill wards) for household burglary suffering from 16 per month. East Acton(pdf map) is fourth for violence with 37 incidents of violence against the person per month on average. In 2011/12 there were 32,589 notifiable crimes throughout Ealing. This fell to 29,930 in 2012/13, a drop of 8% but for 21 out of the last 24 months East Acton has been the highest crime ward in the Borough. Conservative Member of Parliament for Ealing Central and Acton, Angie Bray, says: “The high crime levels in East Acton, especially household burglary, thefts of cars and thefts from cars, are unacceptable. East Acton is also one of the most violent wards in the Borough. “I took this up with the acting Borough Commander in June and I will continue to press for more policing in East Acton. It is time for the Police and Council to get stuck in to East Acton crime.” Conservative spokesman on Community Safety, Cllr Isobel Grant, said:“When the current Labour administration came to power they cut the council’s contribution to policing by 38% and the remaining resource was dedicated to a problem solving team mainly tasked on Southall. The Southall exercise has been successful but now we can clearly see that East Acton has been left behind.'' Councillor Gary Malcolm, Leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats, said: "Falling police numbers will lead to a greater number of crimes such as burglary. The Mayor instead of making cuts to police numbers, should increase the number of PCs and PCSOs. Liberal Democrats met with Ealing's Acting Borough Commander recently and talked about these issues with him. ''In Southfield the ward team did a magnificant job of informing residents of ways they can reduce crime such as not leaving items on show through people's windows. The police need to prevent more crime instead of clearing up after residents have become victims." Ealing Police Borough Commander Nev Nolan said over the last year crime has fallen generally throughout the borough - with 303 fewer reported crimes in East Acton specifically. '' East Acton is one of our priority wards on the Borough because of its size, geography, and policing challenges. This means that over and above day-to-day policing, extra resources are sent to hotspots to provide an additional overt and covert patrolling presence to target offenders, reduce crime and reassure the public. ''In addition, the Cluster Inspector chairs an action group bi-weekly to identify innovative ways to combat crime at ward level such as Operation Ten-pin which launches today. We also benefit from excellent partnership working with the local authority, schools, UKBA, the Fire Service, and other partners and we will be bringing the good practice developed in areas such as Southall to East Acton”. Council Leader Julian Bell has responded: '' Angie Bray and the Tories have belatedly woken up to a problem that the Labour Council and the Police have been aware of and planning a response to for some time. Southall was the highest crime area in the Borough and through excellent partnership work between the Council, Police and other public and voluntary bodies real progress has been made and crime has reduced significantly. ''Crime has also reduced in East Acton but because it is too high the Police and Council through the Local Strategic Partnership have chosen East Acton as the next area based initiative to tackle crime there, learning the lessons from the successful work carried out in Southall. The East Acton project has already had its first meeting and an action plan has been agreed.
4th July 2013
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