Every week Chief Superintendent Michael Gallagher, Brent Police borough commander, writes a column to inform Times readers about the latest policing activity happening in the borough. Today he talks about his officers involvement in upcoming community events.

This week I would like to tell you about upcoming events and the ongoing work police officers in Brent are doing.

Last Wednesday we saw The SSE Arena in Wembley host the first ‘Brent Borough Diversity Celebration’.

This event was organised by the Metropolitan Police Greek Staff Association in collaboration with the Communities Ambassadors Programme. This day combined presentations, performances, workshops and demonstrations to celebrate the contribution that the diverse communities of Brent and surrounding boroughs have to offer. #WeStandTogether

On September 13, there will be ‘Run to the Beat’ - a 10km sponsored run, with more than 10,000 competitors, on closed roads around the borough of Brent with music points at the start and finish and around the course.

On September 21 it will be International Peace Day.

To celebrate this, The London Faith Centre in Salusbury Road, Queen’s Park, will be co-hosting an event with the Islamia Girls School and the Al Sdadiq and Al Zahra School.

The school will be opening their doors to neighbours, friends and local residents.

The event will be opened by Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.

On September 27, The Maharashtra Mandal, London, a charity organisation, will be celebrating Ganesha Festival (the Hindu elephant-headed deity) and this year is their 25th year of this cultural and religious celebration.

As part of their 10-day festivity they plan to conclude the celebration with a procession of the deity in an open top vehicle that is accompanied with around 40-50 followers along with percussions instruments.

So as you can see there are plenty of opportunities for us to get out and meet our diverse community. If you are involved in any other events and you think it would be beneficial to the community for us to attend, please can I ask you speak with your local neighbourhood team.

Newly trained officers continue to arrive on Brent providing a visible presence on your streets. Operation Equinox - tackling violent offences, particularly those linked to licensed premises - is ongoing and looks to be continuing well into 2016.

Initially Brent had two wards in the top 30 most violent wards in London.

Now, thanks to the work of the Operation Equinox teams, both Harlesden and Stonebridge no longer feature in the top 30.

With young people returning to school after the summer holidays, we urge them not to have their valuables on show on the way to and from school. This includes on buses where a number of young people have been victims of robberies in previous years.

With nights closing in, we will be launching our annual ‘Autumn Nights’ operation. This will include numerous events:

• Licensing visits

• Anti-social behaviour hotspot patrols

• Safer schools patrols

• Distribution of Smartwater/MetTrace - a traceable liquid used to detect and deter crime

• Patrols in the vicinity of school bus routes

• Burglary patrols

• Visits to second hand markets

• Firework test purchase operations to find which premises are selling fireworks to underage children

• Robbery patrols

• Visits to betting shops

• Operation Nugget - targeting gold crime ahead of Diwali

If you have any issues or concerns do not hesitate to call us on 101 for non-emergencies.

In an emergency always call 999.

Alternatively, please email or telephone your local Safer Neighbourhood Team.