Unmarked car patrols target street robberies

POLICE are stepping up unmarked car patrols to tackle rising robbery rates, the Times can reveal.

Camden's Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent, Dominic Clout said he believed the recession should be seen as an opportunity which will make the Police Service 'slimmer, fitter and leaner.'

In an exclusive interview, Camden's top cop said Kilburn residents should be reassured that officers in Camden and Brent are working across borough boundaries to tackle the recent rise in robberies.

He said: "We will be enhancing our response to robbery by increasing the amount of robbery cars, which are unmarked vehicles patrolling robbery hotspots. We're just beefing up that response."

Although Camden saw a drop in overall violent crime in the last year, there was a ten per cent increase in the incidence of robbery. Brent saw a 12.5 per cent rise in the robbery rate.

Ch Supt Clout said 'after school robberies' were a particular problem.

He explained: "We've got multiple victims and sometimes it is groups of people who are being robbed and I'm afraid it is largely mobile phones and its I-Pods that are being targeted."

Ch Supt Clout, who will be retiring this November, said he believed that the recession had not resulted in a major increase in crime that some predicted in Camden.

And he said he understood that Mayor Boris Johnson's recent announcement of police cuts to the tune of 455 officers by 2012 would not affect 'frontline services.'

He said: "We've got to think about how we do business a bit better. I'm not sitting here thinking woe is me. I think it will only affect backroom services."

He said Camden was one of six London boroughs to have received a 'green flag' award for meeting its crime reduction targets.

"You don't get that through luck. We are now giving the level of service you would expect from a private sector service."

ben.greening@archant.co.uk