Police Inspector Simon Ellingham makes a plea for accurate reporting

 Croydon Town Centre is a wonderful mix of thousands of people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world. Every day throws up different challenges, and provides opportunities to meet with people who represent virtually every nationality. If footfall figures are accurate, then I would guess that Croydon has over 70,000 people within its borders every day, with the exception of Sunday, and with so many people, naturally, incidents will happen.

 

There are two distinctly different phases of the day; with the daylight hours being dominated by the retail economy and business community, and the night-time economy dominated by the licensed premises.

 

If one takes just the daytime shift, we have on average about 12 calls a day to the Town Centre area, which can vary from simple things like a shoplifter detained, or a minor dispute in a shop, to large scale disturbances in the street. We have, again on average, 5 PCs and 4 PCSOs per day on patrol specifically for the area, and they make, on average, 3 arrests per day. Whilst there is no such thing as a typical day, one would expect there to be only one or two incidents a week that would fall into a 'serious' category.

 

I would argue that, in an area containing the number of people it does, from the diverse background they represent, this is a very small number indeed. I would also argue that, over the last 2 years, we have seen significant improvements in patrolling numbers, partnership-working, better trained and more able Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers, more co-ordination with security guards and store detectives, and a very proactive and helpful Business Improvement District organisation.

As a result many of the problems that Croydon has traditionally suffered from have witnessed a dramatic drop in effect, but because of the historical assumptions people make about the area, it is difficult to convince everyone of the truth of this.

 

The night-time economy throws up completely different challenges. With the sheer volume of people arriving in the area with the specific intent of consuming alcohol in various quantities, incidents that do occur can always have the extra dynamic of somebody having had too much to drink.

 

We have far fewer calls - less than 5 across an average night - but it's in this area that we find the most difficulty; the sheer numbers of people around, in the state of mind they are in, combined with the low numbers of police officers on visible patrol, is bound to throw up isolated incidents.

We do have people who fight, and people do get injured, and the degree of injury varies enormously. Having been a constable here over 10 years ago, I would state that things are much, much better than the 'good old days' of the late 1990s. We have far better and more professional door staff, higher quality CCTV and far more integrated partner agencies working together, but the situation always appears worse than it really is.

 

Whilst I am not trying to ignore the real and serious issues that are present in the Town Centre, I would stress that by far the majority of people I speak to on a regular basis, who accurately represent those who actually live, work or pass through the area, all tell me that they genuinely think the area looks, feels and is better than in past years.

 

There is, however, a very real, and quite understandable, fear that after 3pm, when the schools empty, we have a scene of absolute mayhem every day in the area. I concede that, occasionally, large groups of teenagers appear, apparently intent on causing some trouble, but we have always reacted firmly and assertively to deal with them and the recent Safe For All Operation has seen a significant drop in youth-related violence in the Town Centre. Indeed, we recently provided a large presence for the last day of school before half term, and did not witness one single incident of anti-social behaviour the entire afternoon. Unfortunately that kind of news never seems to make it into the press.

 

It does gall me when I read, in various local publications or website comments pages, the negative and destructive comments that contributors make about the area. It seems that the more efficient we make our units in identifying, reporting and dealing with the various issues, and thereby increasing the numbers of arrests we make (and by default, increasing the number of crimes we can report and detect) somebody takes the headline figure of an increase in crime reports as being indicative only of an increase in crime, and concludes, therefore, that we must be losing control.

 

One example of this can be found Croydon Advertiser website. A current news article reports Mayday Hospital’s announcement that incidents of stabbings have fallen dramatically over the last 2 years, with incidents involving young people falling by half in the last year. This is borne out by our own figures which clearly indicate that there was a significant problem in the past, which we, along with a number of partner agencies, took action to combat, and have achieved a measure of success.

 

However, all you need to do is then look at the comments posted by a small number of people who all state that they don't believe the figures because they are always being told about stabbings and fights, in the same publication, which make them believe Croydon is getting worse, so therefore all the establishment agencies must be lying.

 

Every time I have invited a journalist out with me we have patrolled the entire area and not witnessed a single incident that would merit such a description, and they have told me how quiet it seemed. You just can't win can you?

 

Another example of how perception can be so wrong was on a Friday afternoon some weeks ago. I was on patrol with a colleague and we turned the corner into Church Street to see a large number of school age children, about 40 in total, gathered around the front entrance to Tramms. There was the sound of very loud music, shouting, and the group was spilling onto the tram tracks. Our instant impression was one of disorder breaking out and the potential for injuries. However, as I walked towards it, it became clear that this was a group of friends, all gathered around a young man who had set up his sound system on the private forecourt of the centre, and was dancing enthusiastically to entertain his friends. The manager of the centre was happy for them to be there, and was in fact present enjoying the scene. The group were all high spirited and laughing. I chatted to a couple of them, encouraging them to get off the tram tracks and allow people past, which they readily did, and all seemed to be well, although very loud.

 

I was aware of large numbers of people standing watching us, and got the feeling that everyone else seemed to be waiting for us to do something. However, I was very happy to allow them to continue and went back on patrol to deal with other matters. A few days later I received a letter from a local business complaining that there had been a group of children causing trouble and nobody had done anything. I know they weren't causing trouble, I was there and got the cameras to monitor them. Nobody witnessed any 'trouble' and all was well. But, this impression had been formed and now somebody had a negative view of the area and of the police. All because, I believe, they are constantly being told that gangs of feral kids are roaming our streets and fighting all the time.

 

Whilst I completely concede that there are some young people who will engage in this behaviour, and we must address it and fast, I believe that the reality is completely overwhelmed by a false impression. It is interesting to note that Mayday quoted that they had dealt with 26 people for sharps injuries over the last 12 months, and yet people seem to think that, according to the papers, young people are going around stabbing each other all the time. 26 people in a year is not acceptable, but an average of around 2 people a month in a borough of over 330,000 is not exactly rampant violence is it?