Covent Garden London
The heart of London's West End
Police Sub-committee
Another year for our overworked Police Force and yet another year of changes. Much of it confusing to those of us outside the Force. It's sad, the need to move on officers who are familiar with the area and its community as well as PC Bob McAllister and PC Lynn Harrison were from Charing Cross Division.
Many of us practice our own form of neighbourhood watch and will report in person to police we recognise on the street. I imagine this is lost now, what's the point of chatting to a stranger who doesn't know our area?
Some changes are good and inevitable but some, I consider are deeply regrettable and, dare I say, short-sighted? We'll have to wait and see.
The good news is that we now have our own Covent Garden Sector working group with Holborn. I have lobbied and pushed for this for so long. Covent Garden is different from Red Lion Square, Leather Lane, etc. Obviously drug and drink related problems are sadly universal, but on a local level the problems can differ greatly and this liaison is, I trust, going to improve relations and information in Covent Garden.
The constant battle with illegal traders is, as we see daily, increasing. Charing Cross have worked closely with WCC and we no longer suffer the stinking hot dog trolley outside our Underground station, but the droves of trolleys that are set out nightly on the Camden side must indicate that a) it's very lucrative, and b) it's not being policed. The law is not being enforced. I understand Camden simply does not provide sufficient officers to work with hard-pressed Holborn, and I wonder why? We pay a much higher Council Tax in Camden than over the other side of Covent Garden in Westminster, yet the Westminster Enforcement Team have proved worth their weight in gold. Come on, Camden, justify it if you can.
I still believe that if we had a few licensed hot dog pitches that could be monitored and maintained to environmental health standards, it would become self-monitoring and self-limiting as is the case in New York. We have to recognise that they are not going to go away, so how much better to establish a few pitches, monitor them well, and reduce the current health risk to the unsuspecting public who cannot always afford to buy from local restaurants. Whoever thought that Trafalgar Square and the Mall would be littered with illegal traders - what is happening to London? It would appear that the illegal traders know the law and we can't touch them. I find it galling and in fact my views are unprintable!
Well done Holborn for the successful raid on the drug club in Denmark Place - a brilliantly planned and executed operation.
Well done Charing Cross for Operation Gridiron which was a unified attack on drug dealers. It helped a lot but, as predicted, the problem didn't go away - it merely moved and with staff shortages at Holborn it moved successfully to their side of Covent Garden.
I hope the changes at both stations improve the service to us and to the officers themselves. I am full of admiration for the Force. But we need so many more and no matter what statistics are thrown at us to indicate otherwise, the bobby on the beat is still the best deterrent and the most comforting sight for all of us on the right side of the law.
Jo Weir
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