Sunday, December 24, 2006

Crime In Primrose Hill

Thank you to those of you who have been supportive over the last week. I always thought that Primrose Hill was a pretty safe area to live. I've only seen one mugging incident in the park and one smashed car window (for a phone, as the charger lead was trailing out of the window). But I have been doing some reading since last week, and I have discovered some disturbing facts. Crime is in fact much higher in Primrose Hill than almost everywhere else in Camden (especially where burglaries are concerned) and is the 5th highest in London.

Wat Tyler at Burning Our Money writes of his friend who lives in Primrose Hill and the repeated crime that he has encountered and the measures that some people have gone to cope with the apparent disinterest on the part of the Police. I can only comment on how we were treated but in response to M's call they appeared within 20 minutes and the forensics came first thing the next morning. Not that they found anything of any use on the door, just an ear and shoulder print. I've left them there as a warning to anyone else who might think of trying. There's nothing left of any value to steal.

Will try and blog as and when I get access to a computer but if it's not for a few days, Happy Christmas.

1 comment:

Praguetory said...

Glad that you're more fully aware of the facts. There is no reason why incidence and location of crime can't be made available to the public. I think it should be - as it is in many US cities.

Why isn't it? Well, reducing the public's fear of crime is a key policing goal. It sits alongside actually reducing crime. Having a well-informed public isn't part of this agenda. Symptoms of this focus include that police aren't incentivised to reveal the true extent of crime in an area and the Home Office adverts don't warn women how unlikely it is that an alleged rape will result in conviction (it's about 5%).

It's also the case that when presented with the true facts peoples opinions alter - hence an official report into organised crime in the West Midlands that highlights the criminiality of the Somalian community there has been shelved.

Anyway, hope you get back online soon. I recommend that people visit the police bloggers that I have on my sidebar to understand why despite having more police than ever, our police service is failing us.