I've had cause to remark on this before, but it's a point worth repeating. Given our many wild open spaces, the long, undeveloped stretches of river frontage, and the semi-rurality of some parts of our borough, it is all too easy to forget that we are the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. And, therefore, it can be all too jarring to be reminded of that fact when 'London life' makes its presence felt in our otherwise tranquil towns.
A stark example of this phenomenon occurred just over a week ago when masked, sledgehammer-wielding thugs brutally attacked Gregory & Co jewellers in Richmond town centre, using the sledgehammers to break through the reinforced glass window, steal whatever they could grab and then make off towards a waiting getaway car on Richmond Green.
Of course, all of this was captured on mobile phone by onlookers. That this happened on a Saturday morning in a busy shopping area simply seemed to make an already shocking situation somehow worse.
Of course, it is always vital to remember that this type of event is still incredibly rare, and that the chances of individuals being the victim of crime still remain low. This will, understandably, come as little consolation to those, such as the owners of Gregory & Co, who have experienced crime as a victim and they must always be first in our minds, but it does remain a fact.
However, this type of incident heightens the sense of the fear of crime among individuals. It is completely understandable that when people see crimes being committed by perpetrators who appear to have very little fear of getting caught they wonder whether they will be a victim of crime themselves.
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It is against the backdrop of the insidious nature of a growing fear of crime that recent decisions by the Metropolitan Police hierarchy seem all the more baffling.
We have seen the Royal Parks police disbanded, we have seen school officers withdrawn, closely followed by the Met’s safer transport officers. And at the end of this month the Mayor of London will oversee the closure of the Twickenham police front counter.
At a time when the fear of crime is on the increase it seems perverse to be removing some of the most visible signs that an area is policed.
Of course, the Mayor claims that these decisions are all part of a return to neighbourhood policing, but it will take some time for residents to see a discernible increase in officer numbers locally.
I should stress that I remain fully supportive of our local police teams. Our frontline officers do an incredible job of policing our streets with seemingly increasingly reduced resources. Not for nothing are we London’s safest borough.
However, at a time when trust and confidence are taking a battering, removing visible signs of policing in our town centres seems a backward step.
- Cllr Gareth Roberts is Liberal Democrat leader of Richmond Council and the London Assembly Member for South West London.
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