We list ’anti social behaviour’ as a priority in our first ‘In Touch’ because people we talk to raise it almost as the first topic of conversation.

The Police don’t think it is much of an issue and say it is much reduced. There appears to be a difference in what residents say and what the Police think.

The Police say the crime figures are down, which is true. They showed me the chart. The Neighbourhood team do not even list ’anti social behaviour’ as one of their 3 priorities. Yet we keep getting calls about anti social behaviour.

Yesterday I went to see someone who had phoned one of our Conservative Councillors. She was very upset. She seems to have been putting up with unacceptable behaviour from her neighbours for a long time. The Police also visited her yesterday and have suggested she keep a diary, they gave her one to complete. She says they were really helpful, which is what most people say when they have one to one contact with our Neighbourhood Police.

However, she said its been going on for about 2 years but she’s never known who to phone and doesn’t want to be thought a gossip. It is clearly distressing her and what’s more she says the neighbour’s house has twice been raided by the police, but she was never told why.

This incident seems to confirm what other people have told us. They don’t know who to phone or when and don’t want to be a nuisance. It seems there may be under reporting by the public and therefore under recording by the Police.

I went to the Hook Library on my way home, just before it closed at 5.30pm. There were already two people with beer cans and a bottle sitting on the bench outside the Post Office. The Police told me in September that they are trying to get the bench removed because of its use for drunken and anti social behaviour. Not sure why the Council process is taking so long.

I spoke to another resident yesterday who had previously dialled 999 for an incident that was regarded low priority and no response team sent. She said she would never walk along either the Hook Parade or North Parade at night. This is in line with what a male resident told us about being abused and an incident with (threatening) dogs whilst in the vicinity of the Hook Parade.

I went out with our Neighbourhood Team last week. It was early evening but they were called to the North Parade to arrest a shop lifter who had been apprehended and then we went to support a mental health assessment for a man who apparently has a propensity to wield knives. He didn’t want to go in the ambulance so the Police were called to support. Later that evening a possible drugs deal was reported to the Police.

We have ourselves witnessed snowballs filled with stones thrown at houses and individuals and are, of course, well aware of the anti social behaviour in relation to drivers not just on the A243 but around and about on all our narrow roads.

We think it will make a huge difference when the Police Teams move to the Hook Parade. However, we are somewhat surprised the Police office will not be open to the public, as it would seem that residents feel there is no where to go and no one to talk to when feeling threatened but not sufficiently to call 999. The new office will have two Police Neighbourhood teams based there, but behind locked doors. We think it is a lost opportunity to help the police gather intelligence from members of the public in a relaxed and informal way and to be part of our community. We know it could be manned by volunteers, as it is very successfully in New Malden, where they won a Queen’s Award for their work. This would actually allow more time for Police work as the volunteers are now allowed to do a considerable amount of the administration work currently done by the Police.

We think the new Police Office in Hook Parade should be open to the public.

Many people we’ve spoken to think it should be open.

We intend to conduct a survey of residents but would welcome your comments.