February 28th, 2012 by Mark Rusling

The local police are holding two crime prevention stalls this Sunday – from 11am until 12.30pm on Church Hill Road and from 1pm until 2.30pm on Eden Road. Do join them for crime prevention advice.

The local Safer Neighbourhoods Team have been undertaking increased patrols recently to detect and deter burglars. This has had an excellent effect. In December 2011, there were 25 burglaries reported. Last month, this had reduced to 7.

The new security doors installed at Attlee Terrace have also reduced the problems that residents experienced with youths causing anti-social behaviour in the estate.

If you would like to speak to the Safer Neighbourhoods Team, call 020 8721 2642.

January 13th, 2012 by Mark Rusling

Hoe Street has seen a number of burglaries recently and the police are asking residents to be extra vigilant. Here are some helpful tips on how to avoid becoming a victim.

November 30th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

A prolific burglar who wrote to police offering an insight into what deterred him from targeting particular properties has been jailed for five years.

Leon Reid, 32 of New Cross Road, SE13 wrote a letter to officers in Lewisham prior to his sentencing on 23 November, explaining what features on a property would stop him from targeting it for burglary.

In his letter, Reid said he would not select a property with any of the following:
 
• A well lit premises
• The presence of a dog
• Anti-climbing paint on drainpipes, balconies etc..
• Barrier fencing above garden gates and perimeter walls
• Motion sensor lighting
• Beware of dog stickers
• Alarm warning stickers
• Pebbles/shingle near rear patio doors
• CCTV camera (dummy or live)
• Pad sensors behind doors/windows
• ‘Switch house alarms on’

September 30th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

New figures out from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, show that since the 2010 general election, Waltham Forest has lost 40 police officers. This leaves us vulnerable to events like the disturbances in August.

This is a direct consequence of the government’s decision to cut the deficit so fast. We are paying for a problem that none of us caused.

August 8th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

Overnight, parts of Walthamstow (along with Leyton and Chingford Mount) were hit by violence and looting. Shops and banks in the Walthamstow High Street area have been attacked. The looting, while shocking and utterly reprehensible, is not on the scale seen in Tottenham over the weekend. Nor does it seem to have any link with events which took place in Tottenham last Thursday. There is absolutely no excuse for this. This is criminality and shameless greed – simple as that.

Today, we visited residents in the areas of Hoe Street ward that have been affected. Thankfully, no businesses or residents that we spoke to had suffered any damage or injury, although many people were fearful. We do not want residents to be scared in their own homes or streets – that would mean that these thugs would have won. We will work with the police to restore order to our community.

We have been told by the police that they will be in the area in force tonight to quell any further unrest. We are thankful for the work that all officers perform to keep our borough safe, but we need to know that sufficient officers will be on duty to deal with any disorder.

We want to make it clear that we reject the people who carried out this violence absolutely. Many were not from our borough; all have brought shame on themselves with their actions. Everyone who lives in Walthamstow is part of a diverse community. We are all proud of living here and, because of that pride, we view an attack on one of us as being an attack on us all. They will not succeed, as there are more of us who want to build up our community than there are criminals who want to knock us down.

If you have been affected by the disorder, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.

Mark, Saima and Ahsan

February 19th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

Last week, Ahsan and I visited residents and staff in Electric House and Kevan Court, on Church Hill. We were made very welcome and will be working on some of the issues that we were told about anti-social behaviour outside the properties and improved facilities. We helped to organise social events for the residents and had a tour around the house.

We will be writing to every resident to let them know what we are doing. Thanks to everyone for their tea, biscuits and chat!

February 4th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

As part of the Council’s ‘Back To The Floor’ initiative, I spent yesterday afternoon shadowing the council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team and police Safer Neighbourhood Team. We visited a number of properties throughout the ward, assisting residents with problems and tackling houses whose occupiers regularly pose problems for their neighbours.

The anti-social behaviour team work to resolve problems before they escalate and Vedia Hannan, who covers Hoe Street ward, is clearly very experienced at dealing with issues which can make residents’ lives a misery. We will not tolerate people who behave in that way – contact us if you are experiencing problems with anti-social behaviour. For details of the council’s work in this area, click here. You can contact the team at any time by calling 020 8496 3000.

The Safer Neighbourhood Team, under Sergeant Stu Doyle, work only in Hoe Street ward, so understand the issues affecting residents. For more information, click here. To contact them, call 020 8721 2642. In an emergency, always dial 999.

Thanks to Vedia and Stu for the opportunity to see their work up close. You could say I was Hoe Street warding on the moon….

January 28th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

Several bus shelters across the borough have been taken out of service recently because of vandalism. This is inconvenient and dangerous for passengers and residents, and takes up scarce resources.

If you see anyone vandalising a bus shelter, call 999 or contact the Metropolitan Police Safer Transport Team on 07825 386 775.

December 6th, 2010 by Mark Rusling

A group of councillors has marked the United Nations ‘End Violence Against Women’ campaign. Click here for a photo from the Yellow Advertiser.

Violence against women and girls is an international, national and local issue, and councillors have vowed to fight it wherever they find it. Click here for details of the White Ribbon Campaign – men working to end violence against women.

November 23rd, 2010 by Mark Rusling

We have been made aware of a new postal scam which is doing the rounds at Christmas time. If you are contacted, call Royal Mail Fraud on 020 7239 6655.

A card is posted through your door from a company claiming to be PDS (‘Parcel Delivery Service’), suggesting they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911.

Do not call this number. It is a premium rate number originating in Belize. If you call the number, you will hear a recorded message saying that you have already been billed £315 for the call.

Waltham Forest Trading Standards is working to eradicate these frauds, which pray on vulnerable people. If you receive any other suspicious communications, do bring it to our attention, or call Trading Standards on 020 8496 3000.