Politically correct top cop thinks his dream of multiculti Britain is real

London is returning to an era of neighbourliness and low crime in which people are happy to leave their front doors open, according to the country’s most senior policeman. Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said the work of community-based Safer Neighbourhood Teams was making people feel as safe as they did 25 years ago. 

He cited a recent visit to Haringey, North London, where he met two officers who had “adopted” a 19-storey tower block.  “How long is it since police patrolled the corridors of a tower block?” Sir Ian asked. “It’s as if, when the slums they replaced were flattened, the police stopped patrolling. People are opening their doors, leaving their doors open now, or leaving them unlocked, certainly, in a way they haven’t done for 25 years.”

In an interview with the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, published today, Sir Ian likened the leaders of the neighbourhood police teams to “the sheriff” keeping the peace on his patch. But the gaffe-prone commissioner’s claims appear to be contradicted by local crime figures and his own force’s crime prevention advice.  In the year to July, Haringey police dealt with 2,834 burglaries of people’s homes (54 per week) and 6,399 incidents of violence against the person. Crime in the borough, which includes the Broadwater Farm estate where a police officer died in rioting in 1985, is falling but there were still 33,138 incidents in the past year.

Far from telling people to leave their doors open, the Metropolitan Police website carries a wealth of information on how to make your front door more secure. The commissioner’s comments provoked some surprise in Haringey, where his most recent visit, in July, was to inspect the work of a robbery squad. Local officers said they did not know which tower block Sir Ian was referring to. Damian Hockney, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said that the commissioner’s remarks were “truly extraordinary”.

Neil Williams, Liberal Democrat leader on Haringey council, was also surprised by Sir Ian’s remarks. “Community policing has brought enormous benefits in making people safer and encouraging them to report crime. But we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water, people still need to take sensible precautions with their home security and I’m sure the police officers in that area would say that, too.”

Sir Ian, who is on holiday, has kept a relatively low profile in recent months after widespread criticism. He said recently that reports of his demise were premature.

Sir Ian’s record:

February 2005
With street crime rising, Sir Ian Blair announces crackdown on dinner-party drug scene

July
Declares Met “gold standard” for anti-terrorism hours before 7/7 bombings. Later says shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes directly linked to anti-terrorist operation

November
Accused of politicising police in lobbying MPs for anti-terrorism Bill

January 2006
Forced to apologise after saying he could not understand why the Soham murders were such a big story

March
Apologises again after admitting taping phone call to the Attorney-General, and five other calls, without consent

June
Another apology for Forest Gate anti-terror raid in which man was shot, no evidence of terrorism found

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Some grassroots comments on Sir Ian’s thoughts below:

The doors of Ermine House were firmly closed yesterday. Some of the flats had metal gates in front of them, others had cloth over the front door window to prevent prying.  Lilian Heseltine, 69, has lived in the tower block in Tottenham, North London, for 30 years. “No way would I leave the door open, and I have never seen police patrolling inside the building,” she said. “I’m not really happy here, but home is what you make of it and it is better than it was. I don’t want to move.”

The picture was similar at Stellar House, farther down the high road. A bored guard sat in reception monitoring his closed-circuit television screens and an entry phone had been installed to exclude non-residents. But it does not work, according to Sarah Elgar, 21.  “You can get in if you don’t live here,” she said. “I see people smoking crack in the corridors and on the stairs.  “I would never leave my door unlocked. Nobody that I know of does. The police don’t patrol the building. The only time you see them they run past looking for someone. I was born in this area and the crime has got worse.”

Laura Barrett, 38, a nurse whose motorbike was stolen recently, laughed at the suggestion that she would leave her door open or unlocked. “No way,” she said…

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Posted by jonjayray on Monday, August 21, 2006 at 08:52 AM in
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