“Residents deserve to feel safe going about their daily lives. I am determined to grip the crime problem in our local area.”
This summer, when I first was elected to office, I received a staggering number of emails regarding anti-social behaviour, theft and other forms of crime in our area. Residents in Finchley and Golders Green tell me that they no longer feel safe.
When I was growing up, I enjoyed peace of mind when doing daily tasks. Going shopping with my mum, walking to my friends house, leaving my bicycle outside. Now, from North Finchley to Hampstead Garden Suburb, Cricklewood to East Finchley, residents from across the constituency tell me that they no longer feel safe.
So, after conducting a survey of local residents, I arranged multiple meetings at all levels of the Met Police. During these meetings I relayed the concerns of residents and the futility they feel when reporting to the police.
Here were the key outcomes of these meetings:
1. Residents should continue to report incidents to the police. Although it sometimes feels futile, resources can only be allocated to the appropriate locations with report figures as evidence.
2. Residents should avoid walking around with your phone out in public to stop the blight of phone-snatching. The local hotspots are East and North Finchley High Road as well as other main roads.
3. Please get in touch with my office – at sarah.sackman.mp@parliament.uk – with your crime number if you would like us to ask the police for an update on your case.
Since these meetings, more residents have been in touch about the need to stop local theft in the area. If you belong to a group of residents who have recently been impacted by burglary or vehicle theft, please feel free to arrange a meeting with myself or a member of our team so we can relay your concerns to the local police.
This Government, is determined to tackle crime and its causes. We will fund more local police officers so that every area can get more bobbies on the beat. We will also create Youth Hubs and boost life chances for young people to tackle crime at its root cause.
As ever, if you are concerned or want to reach out to my office please email me at sarah.sackman.mp@parliament.uk.