Harrow residents have expressed their thoughts and concerns about crimes in Harrow in a discussion via the Harrow Online Group.
Residents are worried about rising violence, such as recent knife-crime incidents, and about whether the local police are stretched too thinly to address it.
While there was positive feedback in relation to Harrow as a borough with lower crime figures than some other London boroughs, there were several key areas that residents discussed their concerns about, including catalytic converter thefts, and recent spate of stabbings.
The group was asked – “What can be done within the community to tackle crime in Harrow?”. Below are some of the responses.
“Education starts at home. Parents of youths getting into gangs need to start taking responsibility for their kids. Stop blaming schools or the police or lack of police or lack of youth centres.”
“Young people need positive role models which should start with parents but as you can’t stop bad role models from having kids means you need to promote local heroes.”
“To be honest, the size of aggression I have witnessed over the last few years in Harrow is scary. I was a victim myself at one point, attacked by a group of teenage thugs while being 5 months pregnant and fresh post amniocentesis. Having said that, the level of neglect that starts at early years and continues throughout adolescence creates a need for a vent of accumulated fury and anger and wanting to impress peers (seeking attention and approval of like). I believe that all young people should be involved in sports, such as wrestling or boxing (not to hurt others, but learn to burn energy and deal with own pain). I have seen young people turn their lives around when they found their sense of purpose in this life. ‘Harrow Wrestling Community Group’ might be something to consider.”
“Nothing, its society and the police work on statistics, long gone are the days of community policing. The horse has bolted out of the stable door a long time ago and unfortunately this politically correct bullsh** society we have become – Is not helping.”
“Encourage and introduce charity work activities or projects for young children by getting schools involved in projects, not voluntary but perhaps enforced as part of personal development and life skills.”
“Excuse the long post but here’s my two pence as an ‘outsider.’ How do you expect to tackle crime rates in the age group 12-22 when kids grow up secure in the knowledge they can run wild without repercussions?. Even the hint of discipline can bring CPS down on the parents heads so naturally they are left to do as they like. After a certain age, time outs and gentle parenting doesn’t override the influence of peers. Raising a kid isn’t just the parents’ responsibility, it involves the whole community/neighbourhood! At the same time they have to be involved in community building activities which will foster cohesion and prevent them from getting into bad company.”
“There’s nothing for teenagers to do around here, perhaps a youth club or similar can be opened.”
“Stop closing police stations and improve police presence. Breakdown in communities and sense of community spirit and trust doesn’t help. People need to respect each other and help and come together and providing spaces could help. During lockdown are really appreciated the outdoor seating areas which were introduced. This meant that people sat together and relationships were built on.”
“Tougher sentences are needed for crimes. It’s that’s simple, I think it would help immensely.”
“Check kids pockets for knives when they leave the house. If they are living in your house it’s your rules.”
“The kids need affordable activities to keep them off the streets and doing something positive. As a parent of teenagers (mine are not running wild) it is very difficult to occupy them. I saw someone has suggested wrestling/boxing above and think this is a brilliant idea as well as martial arts which also teach discipline. Properly managed youth clubs with outreach services such as employment advice and maybe Councilling etc would also be much needed. Kids spend too much time on their phones or hanging around with nothing to do but get into trouble. If we tackle this and give them some direction then hopefully the rest should improve.”
“Young people need activities that doesn’t cost the world. They need opportunities to create a future for themselves. Mentoring and internships should be more available across the board. Better policing is also key, outreach programmes….”
”Spend time with your children and listen to them, ask them how they are getting on and remind them to keep out of trouble. We have to engage with our kids and keep them off the gadgets, it never used to be like this back in the 1980s and 90s – things need to improve.”
“Stop desktop policing and get some of the policemen and women to step out into the real world. Problem is when petty crime is ignored the small players get more confident to scale up.”
”The merger did not help. Things have worsened since then I’m sure, it’s a shame, we need more officers on the streets”.
”I feel the answer lies with more youth activities. If the youngsters had something to do instead of loitering around, there would be more reason for them to keep busy. I hope that as things move forward this year, maybe youth activities will be increased.”
