Street robberies are up, car crime is down and youth violence remains steady in what is a first quarter to build on for the borough's police. JACK GRIFFITH looks more closely at the figures and speaks to a senior officer about the challenges posed by the summer months
THE first quarter of the police year, which runs from April to June, has been a mixed bag in terms of the Hillingdon force's performance and the number of arrests made.
While initiatives aimed at slashing numbers in relation to certain crimes have been successful, there have been notable rises in other key areas, and as we move into the summer, new priorities are being set by Hillingdon police as young people start their school summer holidays.
Superintendent Des Rock remains optimistic going forward despite a report dotted with figures that will cause alarm for some residents.
He said: "Overall, it has been a positive start to the year, with some encouraging results, but there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done.
"For the past decade, we have been the only borough in London that has seen an increase in burglaries, but there has been a seven per cent decrease in this quarter compared with last year, so we are very pleased about that and we want to continue to drive that figure down further."
The numbers of burglaries, car thefts and car break-ins all fell substantially during the spring months, although these were largely attributable to decreases in the south of Hillingdon.
The north sector of the borough, including Ruislip, Northwood and Harefield, saw a rise ranging from eight to 35 per cent for these offences, but this is said to be down to excellent comparable results achieved in 2009.
In total, 6,592 incidents were reported during the quarter - an increase of 1.1 per cent.
One of the more worrying statistics featured in the report is the 54.8 per cent jump in robberies, with 226 taking place between April and June, compared with 146 incidents in the same three months last year.
The majority of the reported muggings occurred in areas in the south of the borough.
The number of incidents in Botwell and Yeading wards rose by 180 and 300 per cent respectively, and in both areas 28 robberies were reported in the spring quarter.
The current 'sanction detection rate' for robbery - the number of people who are arrested and charged - is just 20 per cent.
Mr Rock said: "Robberies continue to be a challenging area. It is very hard for us to make arrests for these crimes, and the problem we have is trying to persuade these young people to come forward and give evidence.
"This month we have seen a large reduction, however, and we are now looking at an increase of just 26 per cent.
"Although there is still a lot of ground to make up, we feel we are moving in the right direction and putting effective preventative measures in place."
One such measure, Operation Lynx, was tasked with disrupting violent crime and robberies through the use of high-visibility policing, screening arches and surveillance, and arrests for a variety of offences were made as a result.
The stretch of Uxbridge Road between Lansbury Drive and the Ossie Garvin roundabout had been earmarked as a main trouble spot, and in recent months two dispersal zones have been created, in Uxbridge Road and in Yeading, giving police the power to move on youths involved in anti-social behaviour.
Mr Rock added: "We will be wary of the increased presence of the borough's youth on our streets, but in the past we have actually seen fewer incidents of street robbery in the summer.
"A number of operations are being implemented for the next quarter, and we will continue to work with partners and the community to keep our streets safe."
