Concerned members of the public have contacted Harrow Online to help amplify their fears over lack of policing in the borough.
The residents claim that Harrow has suffered since the force merged with Barnet and Brent and feel that there has been an increase in ‘violent crime’.
They said in an email to Harrow Online: “I asked our local MP a few weeks ago to ask the question at a Police Strategic meeting as to “How many police officers / Patrol Cars are assigned to police the streets of Harrow and sub boroughs daily on each shift?”
“The question was asked of the Borough Commander who could not rather worryingly answer the question himself but advised me through the MP to apply for a FOI which I did. They replied some many weeks later that they could not offer this information as it was too time consuming and costly.
“As a local resident, I believe I and the rest of the community are entitled to know where our money is being spent and how many officers are resourcing Harrow? There is a huge increase in violent crime in our town (2 recent murders in Pinner), an increase in burglary and drug activity to name a few and I as a home owner wish to know that I and my family are protected!
“The question needs to be asked as I have it on good authority that where as we used to have a full emergency response capability from Harrow with a number of officers allocated to Harrow, those officers are now parading in the main from Brent due to the merge, these officers deal mainly with Brent policing due to the number of calls and Harrow is somewhat ignored and seen as a far lesser priority with maybe one unit assigned to patrol the area but they rarely do?
“So ultimately, whilst our contributions have gone up, we as a community are not getting our money’s worth. When you consider the policing numbers we used to have compared with now, it is no wonder the the criminal fraternity is hitting us hard as we are an easy target?
“The fact the Borough Commander, FOI team cannot provide me with numbers which I also find somewhat worrying due to the fact officers have to be booked on and off duty, are assigned tasks and patrolling areas on every shift by the supervisors, that the system cannot come up with figures. All tasking comes from the very top and cascades down and there are regular leadership meetings!
“I understand that it can take 20-30mins if not much longer in heavy traffic to get from Kilburn to Pinner in an emergency as traffic is in deadlock which concerns me greatly as a resident and especially if a victim of a violent crime? I am not interested in support teams such as safer neighbourhood teams, tasking teams but emergency uniformed response officers?
“The people of Harrow are entitled to daily patrolling which they pay for like any other Borough or area. If the information is incorrect so be it but the residents want to know. You only need to read next door with the amount of locals saying no point in reports to the police as they never do anything and this is an attitude they need to turn around.
“We see next to no patrols around here only sirens of vehicles no doubt coming from
much further afield. I believe the truth of the matter is, our once dedicated Harrow team is now dealing with the overwhelming number of calls in Brent to the detriment of the people of Harrow and surrounds.
“I really think this needs addressing by someone who get can get answers for the Harrow Residents”.
