Cluster Panels are community engagement forums where residents and workers in the City of London can collaborate with the police and local government agencies to enhance safety and address local issues. They serve as a platform for local community stakeholders to meet with officers to:
- Discuss local concerns, such as crime and anti-social behaviour trends and the action taken to address them
* Help set local policing priorities, ensuring that resources focus on the concerns which are more pressing to the local community
* Foster community relations, building intelligence and partners, trust and cooperation.
In addition to the updates from the City of London Police team, a wide ranging discussion took place with representatives from local businesses operating in Bishopsgate. I’ve attempted to summarise them below:
- Theft – theft continues to be the highest crime type reported in the cluster area. This is predominantly mobile phone left from a person, but there is also a volume of thefts from local shops and unattended bag thefts. Officers outlined the Operations underway to address these and the success to date. Some discussion also took place around theft from restaurants, where customers would get up and leave without paying their bill. We also talked about the need to co-ordinate a consolidated picture of theft to include thefts inside Liverpool Street Station, which is managed by the British Transport Police rather than City of London Police. There had been reports that in many cases, businesses are not reporting all thefts to police, but police encouraged local shops and businesses to do so.
- Personal safety – whilst the City of London remains the safest place to live or work in the UK, security teams within local companies are being asked to provide more personal safety advice to employees who are concerned at the perceptions of knife crime and aggressive mobile phone thefts happening elsewhere in Greater London. Following a series of questions, Officers highlighted the Personal Safety pages on their website, but also offered to come and talk directly to employees. One questioner asked the police if they communicate more around offender profiles, to help local residents and workers be aware when danger may be lurking. Offender profiles for mobile phone thefts are often on on electronic bikes or cycles, swerving between each side of the road close to the pavement looking for targets. They most commonly focus on women using their mobile phones. Police advice is don’t walk everywhere with your phone in your hand. Use it for what you need it for and put it back in your pocket whilst walking around the City. They also outlined the success they have had in breaking up some of the bigger mobile phone theft rings and how useful the roll-out of mobile phone marking had been in returning expensive devices to their owners.
- Night-time Economy – a considerable multi-agency approach has been taken to supporting Bishopsgate’s thriving hospitality trade, but by keeping people safe when they may be at their most vulnerable. This has recently included the launch of the Safe City Bus which will operate outside of Liverpool Street Station on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings until 3am, staffed by two uniformed City of London Police Officers and one trained medic.
- Drugs – some discussion took place on drugs. Cocaine is still used extensively in the Liverpool Street area, but ketamine becoming a drug of choice amongst younger people is to be explored further. Work is underway with BT to remove or repurpose some of the dilapidated, unused phone boxes in the area, which have become a place for drug dealers to leave their phone numbers. Licensing and police teams work closely with local hospitality venues to train and test for drinks spiking.
- Counter Terrorism – given the recent terrorism incident in Huntingdon, on a train from Doncaster to London King’s Cross, a discussion took place around the threat level, how Operation Servitor works and the role of armed policing response in the City and on trains. Officers. Police encouraged those present to ask their employees to report anything at all that doesn’t look or feel right to Police, so that it can be investigated. BTP reminded the audience that they can report anything suspicious on trains, by texting a message to 61016 24 hours a days.
- Fraud – following a question about how the City Police are detecting and preventing fraud, a discussion took place about the City Police’s Operation Cyber Griffin, which offers free services to support businesses and individuals to protect themselves from cyber criminality. The City of London Police is the National Lead Force for UK fraud and cyber crime.
- Cycle Safety – Officers outlined some of the campaign and targeted actions which have been undertaken to address anti-social cycling in the Square Mile. The City Police’s Cycle Safety website makes clear what the legal requirements are for complying with the Highway Code and failure to do so is a criminal offence. Several pop-up events and targeted intervention days are planned to focus on this policing priority for the Bishopsgate area.
