Bad news for Sir Robin Wales. Despite spending millions on his own private police force, buying in additional officers from the Met and blanketing the borough in CCTV, crime is on the rise in Newham:
- Homophobic Crime – up 100%
- Racist & Religious Hate Crime – up 70%
- Homicide – up 50% (though thankfully from a very base)
- Domestic crime – up 5%
- Violence against the person – up 3%
Yes, some crimes have reduced – notably robbery, burglary and sex crimes. And there have been fewer crimes using guns.
But overall crime in the borough is up by 3%. By contrast, across the whole of London it fell by almost 4%.
That’s a real embarrassment for someone with Sir Robin’s city-wide ambitions. And the Evening Standard won’t be as docile as the Newham Recorder when it comes to holding him to account.
Perhaps our 60 councillors might like to ask him a question or two as well. After all, isn’t oversight and scrutiny part of their job?
(hat-tip to @StopCityAirport for unearthing the stats)
forestgatedotnet 
Newham CCTV is used solely for parking offences.
“Despite spending millions on his own private police force ” – they are only there to hand out fines for littering or untidy gardens.
I also noticed a CCTV car was rammed into on Barking Road last month (don’t know if accidental or malicious).
I have noticed a lot more police presence in Newham. They come on certain days and stop motorists for various offences. The police claim it disrupts crime at every level. However, I am less then convinced, I have a feeling this is raising revenue through by the police through Fixed Penalty Notices e.g. not wearing seat belt, talking on mobile phone, tinted windows, uninsured drivers etc….