Havering Council and Havering Community Safety Partnership have hosted the annual crime summit, bringing together key partners and local communities to discuss tackling crime,
The summit, held on Monday evening (3 February 2025), at the Town Hall, Romford, was attended by around 80 people.
A key message from the summit was that Havering is still one of the safest boroughs, with a reduction in all crime during 2024 compared to 2023.
The Partnership acknowledged that despite this, the fear of crime by residents in the borough is high.
Work with communities will continue to take place to help towards reducing that fear.
Representatives from the Council and police gave presentations on the priorities that are part of the Partnership’s community safety review.
This also included the three-year refresh of its overall ongoing plan.
These priorities include working towards:
- reducing crime and anti-social behaviour in town centres and other areas, including vulnerable neighbourhoods
- tackling violence against women and girls and all genders
- tackling youth crime and serious exploitation
- further improving residents’ feelings of safety
- reducing re-offending, including substance misuse.
Speakers included Diane Egan, Havering Council’s Community Safety Intelligence Manager, Chris McAvoy, Havering Council’s Head of Enforcement and Safety.
Jane Eastaff, Havering Council’s Enforcement Manager and Chris Stannett, Community Safety officer.
There was information shared on the work taking place during the key times when young people are more vulnerable to be victims of crime or commit crime.
The Council and Police are teaming up with youth organisations to provide activity programmes during these hours.
There was also news on the progress of the upgrading of CCTV facilities and explaining about the roles of the partnership and who to report different issues to.
In addition – residents and guests were able to put questions to the panel, which also included the Leader of Havering Council, Councillor Ray Morgon,
Andrew Blake-Herbert, Havering Council’s Chief Executive and Simon Hutchison, Havering Superintendent, East Area BCU Metropolitan Police, about local issues.
Concerns raised included fly-tipping issues in Harold Hill caused by consistent offenders, plus discussing the fear of crime.
People said they wanted to be reassured that some action will be taken if they do report something.
The panel also offered to take individual cases away to discuss further with those residents.
Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, said:
“It was good to see so many people at the summit and for us all to discuss with everyone the work that is being carried out on a daily basis to help make our borough a safer place to be.
“We also got the chance to hear from many people about what issues they have where they live and how we can look to work with them and communities to resolve these, including anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime.
“These events are important in bringing many of us together to talk and discuss how we can further reduce crime, the threat of crime and to have a safer borough for everyone to live, work and go to school in.”
The summit was part of the Council’s Where We Live campaign, which encourages residents and community groups to work with the Council to help make the borough a cleaner and safer place to be, including highlighting community safety and enforcement.
Simon Hutchison, Havering Superintendent, East Area BCU, Metropolitan Police, said:
“Taking part in the summit provides a great platform for local people to meet the Havering Community Safety Partnership and air their concerns.
“I don’t underestimate the fear of crime in Havering and our teams are working hard to respond and tackle the issues that matter to the communities we serve.
“We’re arresting more offenders and those that cause the most harm, working closely with the local authority and partner agencies to resolve problems.
“This was an opportunity for the police to listen to residents, explain what our teams are doing to tackle crime in Havering and also to encourage them to report crime and anti-social behaviour.”
The Havering Community Safety Partnership is made up of Havering Council, Metropolitan Police, London Fire and Planning Authority, NHS and the National Probation Service.