Burglary figures rising “despite promises from borough commander”

Edwina Ellington
Saturday, January 28, 2012
9:00 AM

Sgt Douglas Fyfe briefed councillors and public at last week’s area committee six meeting in South Park Primary School, Water Lane, Seven Kings, on the police’s findings, and admitted burglary was still a problem in all three wards: Mayfield, Loxford and Clementswood.

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He said: “This weekend, I know there’s been six burglaries in Loxford. The offence is constantly targeted by the borough, and response teams are briefed daily and are tasked to patrol hot spot areas.”

But Cllr Jas Athwal said his experience of the police has not always been positive.

“A resident once called me to tell me a brick had been smashed through his window, with such force, it hit the opposite wall,” he said.

Bold statements

“The police did not come until the next day.

“These bold statements I read from the borough commander [Det Ch Supt Sue Williams] need to be backed up. How long should people have to wait to speak to ­police?” But Sgt Fyfe said the police had to prioritise problems. “We don’t have 500 ­police waiting at the station at any given time,” he said.

“In my opinion, someone should have come before the next day in that instance, but it depends on resources.

“If someone has had a threat of violence, or violence against them, we have to ­respond to that. Goods can be replaced but people can’t.”

A member of the public said: “Before Christmas, the borough commander gave a statement with all these promises for 2012, but ­burglary is still rife.

“This just isn’t fair because it gives people false hope, it’s letting the public down,” he added.