Keeping our streets safe by Chief Inspector Neil Billany

9th July 2018

Unfortunately since the last edition the horrible spate of knife crime in London has affected this area, with the well-publicised stabbing that occurred in Broomfield Park on the 7th May. This involved a young man who was preparing for his GCSE exams being attacked following an incident with another man. Thankfully he is making a recovery, however the effects of this incident will long live with him and his family.

Following this I attended a Public Meeting in Southgate, which was very well attended by the community, with MP Bambos Charalambous also a key speaker. While it was sad to have a meeting in these circumstances I was impressed and encouraged with the level of community support and took away a lot of issues to work through with the Neighbourhoods teams working across Southgate and Palmers Green.

In other news, we have a flasher who is active in Broomfield Park. The ward team are regularly in and around the area looking for him, however as yet he remains at large. If you do see anything untoward, or are victim to a like offence yourself, please contact the police. I appreciate sometimes there is a feeling of embarrassment in coming forward, however we do not take chances with this type of offence and the sooner we can get someone in front of a Court the better.

Also worth mentioning is a recent spate of cars being broken into in Southgate. The team have worked some night shifts in an attempt to catch people in the act, however we weren’t lucky this time round. What the team did find was a number of unlocked cars, which only makes things easier for prospective thieves. Please try and help us to help you by locking your car when you leave it.

And finally, despite all the above, Southgate and Palmers Green are safe and pleasant areas to live in and reported crime here is much lower than neighbouring areas. This is not me putting a spin on things, crime data is readily available online for you to review. We also have ‘Local Life’ pages which give you a feel for what your local police teams are up to. If you head to www.met.police.uk, put your postcode in and your teams page will come up. This will not only tell you who they are and what they are doing, but also gives you an opportunity to tell us what your concerns are and when you can meet the team face to face.