In this week’s column Chief Superintendent Matthew Gardner highlights the importance of working with other organisations in the borough

This week I am concentrating on the good work that Brent Police are carrying on with our key partner agencies on the borough.

What many members of the public are not aware of is that under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 these partner agencies are obligated to work together to reduce crime and disorder on the borough.

At Brent we have a very effective Community Safety Partnership and we work in a joined up manner with other agencies such as the Local Authority, The London Fire Brigade, schools and colleges and the Primary Care Trusts to achieve joint priorities and objectives.

To give you a flavour of the sort of work we engage in I would like to specifically mention the work of our Integrated Community Safety Team. The team are based at Willesden Green Police Station and consist of four members of staff from the London Borough of Brent and two police officers. Some of the team’s successes include obtaining 56 Asbos, a gang injunction against a member whose behaviour and criminality was causing considerable concern and we also have 14 applications for Asbos on conviction pending against members of a gang from within Brent.

There are also five dispersal orders currently in place which allows officers to disperse groups of two or more from identified areas at set times when crime and anti social behaviour occurs.

A significant success has been seen in the Dollis Hill area where high levels of anti social behaviour and a significant and serious crime had prompted partnership action.

Moving forward I have asked the team to look at some joined up work with the Registered Social Landlords that we have on the borough.

Many of the culprits that commit crime and bring misery to their neighbours and fellow residents live within registered social housing.

I feel very strongly that where appropriate, we should challenge the right of such individuals to continue to receive subsidised accommodation on this borough.

I am well aware of the need to work within the law, with sound judgement and with due regard to the Human Rights of the individuals involved.

However, I would also like to send a very clear message to these individuals that you can expect the police and our community safety partners to utilise all the powers that are available to us to protect the quality of life of our law abiding residents that make up the vast majority of this borough’s population.

We are currently working with the school heads on the borough to reinvigorate the Safer Schools protocols that we have in place with our secondary schools. We unfortunately had to reduce the number of dedicated schools officers that we had in place a while ago but I am pleased to say that we now have six dedicated officers in place with the two remaining posts to be filled in the next month or so.

These officers perform a vital role in working towards achieving joint objectives in regards to student safety, well being and welfare. They also target such things as bullying, truancy and reducing the number of required exclusions and suspensions from schools.

This team also works closely with the school staff and our Safer Transport Team to ensure young people travel safely and without fear of crime on their journey’s to and from school.

If you have any information on crime matters, we will act.

You can call us on Crimestoppers (0800 555 111), 101, or your local Safer Neighbourhood Team Teams accessed via the Met Police Website (www.met.police.cu.uk). In an emergency, call 999. For daily updates and information about what is happening in Brent, you can follow us on Twitter at @MPSBrent

Thank you for your continued support