The service covering areas from London Bridge and Bermondsey to Dulwich and Peckham is running as a pilot project for an initial nine months
It’s a Friday evening and Burgess Park in South London is buzzing. Locals are out enjoying the last of the sunny evenings before the nights start to draw in. Around the corner, a team of night-time patrol officers are getting ready to start their shifts for the evening and are ready to respond to any emergencies, incidents or major unplanned events that could need their help.
Two officers exit the park and make their way towards the half-empty Aylesbury Estate, which has been identified as an area that needs greater visibility to support the needs of existing residents, as well as providing help for those who could be rough sleeping on site. From London Bridge to Peckham, Southwark Council’s new night-time patrol service sees officers deployed all over the borough to help improve the safety of residents, businesses and visitors of the borough after dark.
The Night Time Uniformed Patrol Service (NTUPS) launched on August 18 to help crack down on antisocial behaviour (ASB) hotspots and crime in the borough and has already received positive feedback and an increase in reporting incidents. The service is running as a pilot project for an initial nine months and is being delivered with security company Kingdom Services Limited, which deals with ASB and environmental crime across the whole of the UK.
READ MORE: Southwark’s new night patrol team cracking down on crime – in pictures
The patrols run from 6pm to 2am every day of the week. During each shift, a team of up to 10 uniformed officers will be assigned to patrol different areas in the borough based on ASB and crime data, as well as current intelligence and community concerns. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) caught up with night-time patrol officers, the council and Kingdom Services in Burgess Park to hear about how the service has made a difference so far.
Sarah King, Leader of Southwark Council, said night-time patrol officers are already forming good relationships with residents and have also received positive feedback from people who are speaking to them in the park and on the streets.
Cllr King said: “One of the things that comes through really, really clearly is about feeling unsafe, particularly after dark and particularly for women. So this is very much a response to that and making sure [the officers] have a presence in our community, that they’re located in areas which are data driven in terms of ASB and crime and that they’re out providing reassurance.”
Natasha Ennin, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Neighbourhoods at Southwark Council, added: “The key thing for us is about recognising that Southwark is a really diverse borough and it’s a popular place for people to be, so we experience different types of crime in different parts of the borough.”
Cllr Ennin explained that throughout the north of the borough – where London Bridge, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe are located – there is a focus on working with the police to reduce phone thefts, while the southern part of the borough – Dulwich and Peckham for instance – is a hotspot for burglaries and car thefts.
Cllr Ennin added: “The centre of the borough is where we see our most of our social and economic deprivation. We realised we saw low levels of reporting so what we’ve done is we’ve dedicated resource and time to actually engage with our residents on the ground. Amazingly, we’ve seen an increase in reporting which means our engagement is working. They’ve told us they don’t feel as safe in the night so we’re actually reviewing whether their perception of safety at night will be changed by having a night-time presence and also if we’re able to reduce crime.”
John Roberts, Chief Services Officer at Kingdom Services, said: “[Southwark] is a big area to cover, there’s a lot of issues that we get asked to look into for the council and it’s been well received. We’ve had a lot of feedback and we’re hoping that it continues for the rest of this pilot.”
Mr Roberts went on to say officers take part in dedicated training courses and earn accredited qualification which gives them the confidence to attend incidents which are often high-intense situations.
Southwark residents can report ASB using the council’s website or they can alternatively ring 020 7525 5777. Cllr Ennin said residents can also attend Safer Neighbourhood Ward Panels and take part in community forums, which are made up of local people who are interested in making a difference within their local communities.
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