In the wake of recent violence, Victoria Munro speaks exclusively to the borough’s top policeman
Waltham Forest is currently trialling a new style of policing, one that could see the force finally open more than one permanent station in the borough.
Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Crick took over command of Waltham Forest and Newham’s joint force last July, after leading policing in Enfield and Haringey.
In the aftermath of two high-profile stabbings in Walthamstow, one of which has now become a murder investigation, he spoke to the Echo about his aim of communicating better with residents and working even more closely with Waltham Forest Council.
To this end, police and the council are carrying out a three-month pilot in two Leytonstone and Chingford neighbourhoods, which could spread borough-wide if it succeeds.
“Clearly when you get two serious incidents in the space of a week in the same area, it plays on people’s minds,” he said, referring to the quadruple-stabbing in The Duke pub last month and a now-fatal stabbing in Brandon Road just over a week later. “And social media has had a significant impact.
“I’ve seen a lot of speculation online and[…] unless we step up to counter these narratives with the facts, what’s on social media can become the reality of what happened in many people’s minds.
“One thing we struggle with is communicating with residents; listening to them and explaining to them what we are doing. Nobody is aware of all the work being done and that speaks volumes. How can I expect people to have trust and confidence in us if we are not communicating what we are doing in an effective way?”
In an effort to be “more responsive” in the aftermath of the now-fatal stabbing, police briefed Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, who in turn posted updates regularly to Walthamstow’s largest Facebook group, and held a public meeting to reassure residents last Friday.
Asked if recent events reflected a wider increase in violence, perhaps caused by conflict between the borough’s gangs, he said: “I always try to look for an understanding of what’s going on but the briefing I was given suggests I have not got that intelligence at the moment. I don’t think there has been a huge change [in the gangs network], it’s very much similar to how it was in 2018.”
Aside from the “unfortunate” spate of violence in Walthamstow, DCS Crick was keen to talk about the “Safe Streets” pilot, a joint effort by the council and police now taking place in Cathall and Chingford Mount.
The three-month trial will see Waltham Forest police, already on “very close” terms with the council, take their relationship “to the next level”. The thinking, DCS Crick explained, is that many issues commonly reported to the police could actually be better solved by council intervention.
He said: “We’re no longer the agency that can solve all the issues in the community. For example, if there’s drug-dealing in the stairwell of a block of flats, it might be that there needs to be a more effective front door.
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“Instead of a delay getting the council to deal with [an issue], we can have a fast conversation to get the relevant services out. Rather than imposing a solution, it’s about going to the community, asking what issues they have and trying to make their lives better.”
Asked what would happen in a situation where residents were unhappy with a council-led response, DCS Crick said this was another issue he hoped would be solved by better communication.
However, a public meeting organised by police in Chingford last month, regarding a crime-ridden railway bridge, makes it clear this may be a difficult task. While the council promised to install a CCTV camera, some residents were still insistent they wanted to see more officers on patrol.
The focus on neighbourhoods is a key part of the council’s strategy moving forward – with the neighbourhood frameworks for South Leytonstone and Chingford Mount both in the final stages of development – but also one shared by the Metropolitan Police across London.
DCS Crick said new Met Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, “wants all officers to be 20 minutes walk from their base”, something which “may require” opening up more police stations in the borough “co-located with the council”.
Asked if this could mean the reopening of Walthamstow Police Station, which closed in 2011 and was supposedly set to be converted into flats in 2020, he said: “There’s no plans at the moment to get rid of our Walthamstow base as it’s one of our busier areas.
“To me, it’s really important that we have got offices located in our communities. Some of our police stations have metal grills over the front doors, it’s really not a good image and looks like we have withdrawn from the community.”
As an “interim measure”, however, local police have “been doing a lot of work around pop-up stations”, temporary police stations that move around the borough, which he said “have been really successful”.
However, while police stations are currently on rotation, new recruits are now staying put. In response to criticisms that local officers were being moved on just as they began to understand a new area, the force is now aiming to have “consistency in postings”, as DCS Crick remarked: “It takes six months just to find out about the local issues.”
He added: “We need to get better at advertising who the local police officers are because a recurring theme we hear from residents is that they have no idea how to contact them.”
DCS Simon Crick joined the Met Police at the age of 24, inspired by his father and brother, both policemen themselves. He spent a decade as a police constable in Newham, which left him “totally committed” to neighbourhood-level policing, as he “saw for [himself] how problem-solving can solve many of the issues in communities”.
While his proudest achievement is becoming borough commander, the moment that “sticks out” most in his career to date is being one of the first responders on the scene at Grenfell.
He told the Echo: “It was the only time I thought I was going to lose my team, it was that scary. There were very distinct similarities to the Twin Towers and I remember thinking, if this building collapses, how am I going to get my team out?
“I was under a tree and remember looking up and it was full of metal that had fallen off the tower. If that had fallen on one of my officers, it could have caused serious injury.”
After his time as borough commander for Enfield and Haringey, he is pleased to return to the East London area where he started his career.
He said: “I love this area, it’s a fantastic place to work. I always tell recruits they’re really lucky to come here because it will give them a really broad and varied experience in their first few years. If you want to be an officer in London, somewhere like here is a really good place to learn your craft.”
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