Is There More Crime In The Area?
ScaredofChives asks:
Is there more crime in 'the area' ?
I ask because:
1- For the first time I witnessed a teenager on a bike looking into each and every car window - clearly to steal something (never seen this before)
2 - There seems to have been loads of smashed car windows in the back streets recently (near Maze Hill, for example)
3 - Eric in the Trafalgar Road newsagents got beaten up outside Sainsburys at 7pm by two guys wanting money - he's on crutches and his jaw is wired-up
4 - Steve the Threshers manager got held up on Monday by someone with a 'gun' in his jacket - he tackled him and the bloke ran off
All these have happened in the last 3 weeks.
Yes, it's London etc...
The Phantom says:
Well - I've certainly seen all the smashed windows around Maze Hill - some of them hung around for ages which implied to me that they were dumped stolen cars.
Poor Eric. Hope he gets better soon.
I confess that I still don't feel particularly unsafe around here. Ok - I'm not going to hang around Wetherspoons on a Saturday night or wander round the backstreets in some areas, but that's always been the case. I walked through the Park alone after dark the other night and the only frightening thing was the unpleasant Parkie who told me most aggressively that it was closing. I knew damn well it was closing but I could only walk so fast...
Is there more crime in 'the area' ?
I ask because:
1- For the first time I witnessed a teenager on a bike looking into each and every car window - clearly to steal something (never seen this before)
2 - There seems to have been loads of smashed car windows in the back streets recently (near Maze Hill, for example)
3 - Eric in the Trafalgar Road newsagents got beaten up outside Sainsburys at 7pm by two guys wanting money - he's on crutches and his jaw is wired-up
4 - Steve the Threshers manager got held up on Monday by someone with a 'gun' in his jacket - he tackled him and the bloke ran off
All these have happened in the last 3 weeks.
Yes, it's London etc...
The Phantom says:
Well - I've certainly seen all the smashed windows around Maze Hill - some of them hung around for ages which implied to me that they were dumped stolen cars.
Poor Eric. Hope he gets better soon.
I confess that I still don't feel particularly unsafe around here. Ok - I'm not going to hang around Wetherspoons on a Saturday night or wander round the backstreets in some areas, but that's always been the case. I walked through the Park alone after dark the other night and the only frightening thing was the unpleasant Parkie who told me most aggressively that it was closing. I knew damn well it was closing but I could only walk so fast...
Labels: Debates
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
09:10
18 Comments:
Crime figures for Greenwich - 2006 and 2007
Violence against the person - down
Burglary - up
Motor vehicle crime - up
The car crime wave seems to be about Sat Navs. Many people received them at Christmas this year and some people keep them in their glove compartments. Criminals look for the round mark the holder leaves behind on the windscreen. I keep a battered old 1995 road atlas on the back seat to prove my memebership of the old-skool navigation club. It appears to work too. Unfortunatley both neighbours' cars parked either side of ours were attacked a few weeks ago while ours was left untouched. I guess increased stealing may reflect people finding times harder right now.
My car window was smahed in the Ashburnham Triangle the other day. A neighboour told me he had the same done to his. I leave nothing of value in the car but they had a good look through all the compartments. The North Pole seems to cause a fair few problems (like the Wetherspoons) and that lad got attacked the other day and the road was still cordoned off by police at least 10 hours after the attack (http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/lewgreennews/display.var.1992435.0.attacker_hits_teen_with_rock.php). I don't feel unsafe wandering around either but it's getting worse that's for sure.
I would hazard a guess that much car crime where windows are smashed are caused by druggies who sell your Tom Tom for a fiver in a pub and buy some smack.
My cars get broken into/vandalised at least twice a year in the Ash triangle. Make sure you report it all though even if you dont claim on your insurance as it will cause the Police's crime rate to rise and may get them to stick on a few extra patrols.
I have seen one youth inparticular around Saint Alfeges looking/stealing from parked cars.I could give a description but I dont think this is the right forum. What I dont understand is that we have CCTV all over Greenwich and yet no one is watching it, its enough to make me spit pink ink!
I work just off the Ashburnham Triangle and as a particularly money-ed part of Greenwich it seems to get targeted quite a lot.
Just the other day a car had its window smashed in, and I know of someone who had their phone pinched in the street last year near the Guildford pub.
A quiet set of roads full of rich people - a easy target.
I live in the Ashburnham Triangle and like a lot of people who live here I am not rich! Last summer I was set upon by a gang of youths. I did report it to the police and I did notice an increase in community officers in the area. Sadly, I haven't noticed any through the winter months.
Sadly it doesn't seem to be down to whether individuals in an area are 'rich' or not - it's a general perception by thieves of an area's worth - and The Ashburnham Triangle probably just looks affluent to them.
Re the monitors in the Town Centre - I think you have a point. We don't seem to be able to walk two inches without some kind of surveillance - and yet when it could be useful - for example when poor Josh Beasley went missing, it doesn't seem to have been any good at all. If potential villains know that there's the equivalent of 'no film in the camera' (and who hasn't hoped THAT when they've just been snapped by the traffic cameras) they will become even cockier.
I moved to Kidbrooke last year from Dartford and everybody told me I was taking my life in my own hands but despite that I feel much safer here than I ever did in Dartford. I have also lived in sleepy Canterbury and I have found my neighbours much friendlier here and have seen much less car crime. Car crime does tend to peak after Christmas as is said above. I think we have to remember that it only takes one thief to rob 100 cars in an area and doesn't mean that Greenwich is 'going to the dogs' etc.
The free parking area between Maze Hill Stn and Van Burgh Tavern seems to be a mecca for smashed windows recently. It has been going on for a few months now and I have seen no improved police presence or warning signage. It would be nice if the council would clean it up too - it just encourages more vandalism/opportunism.A friend had her car stolen and dumped (after it had been driven into the ground) in Charlton. She had to agree to pay the police a "return" fee in the event that they found her car, plus the pound charges.... they found crowbars and all kinds of stuff in her car when it was recovered. Still undrivable though so it had to be scrapped.
Having to pay for storage of your stolen car is adding insult to injury. I thought I heard recently that they were changing that rule though...
The police also dropped a 'Don't leave valuables in the car' notice through doors in East Greenwich a while back - never seen that before either.
To me, car crime isn't so much the worry - you can always buy a new Tom Tom - but someone robbing you - or coming into a shop seemingly armed, is.
I've also heard more police sirens in the last month or two.
Some folks in the Westcombe Park area receive a free monthly 'paper' (Westcombe News) and a year or two ago someone spent the time printing and delivering a spoof version - mocking, what they obviously thought, was the scare-mongering of the WN - about local crime.
But I must admit - for the first time in my x years in Greenwich, I feel a change. Perhaps it's age.
Well I guess if your scared of chives then its got to be tough.
Its not so bad out there , if you know your onions that is.
...tell that to Eric and Steve...
I think Benedict was referring to your moniker ;-)
I must admit I've been feeling rather less safe in the Trafalgar Road area than I ever used to. Maybe I'm just getting old like Scared of Chives ;-)..... but a few weeks ago I got threatened with a beating up in the Co-op. My crime? Refusing to buy a pack of Rizlas for a kiddie who said it was for his Mum who was at home looking after the baby. And I do feel quite nervous passing some of these groups of teens who hang around on the corners outside the William? pub opposite Tesco. That may be prejudiced and unfair, but they don't really seem to treat the pavement as a pavement, more as an extension of the pub.
About two weeks ago a neighbour (East Greenwich) was mugged with a screwdriver as he was getting groceries out of his car. Right in front of our house. At four in the afternoon.
There have been several window-smashings on our street.
Good point Vodkov made that it doesn't mean there are gangs of thieves running through our streets. Just a few people could think they're onto a winner. I always remember from a personal safety course that burglers most fear the twitchy curtain signifying a nosey neighbour. I always try to remember to look out the window a couple of times a night, if only to make my presence and interest felt.
A kid asked me for a pound in blockbusters as soon as I got in the door so he could 'get a game' and I said no so he snarled at me - little **** and some friends in Deals Way watched a 16 year old if that get on a non-L plated scooted with some wire cutters!!!! I now snarl.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home