Council and Police team up for Walk and Talk initiative

Barking and Dagenham Council is continuing its work to improve perceptions of safety and crime in the borough and last Thursday (20 January), it joined forces with the police to talk to residents and commuters at Barking Station about any concerns or issues they may have.

The Metropolitan Police initiative, known as Walk and Talk, aims to start a conversation between members of the public and police officers about any worries that they have, what can be done to address them and for members of the public to walk with a police officer to highlight areas of concern.

On Thursday, there were 12 police officers as well as six Community Safety Officers from the council.

The feedback from officers was that many members of the public engaged and were pleased to see the council and police working together to tackle any issues they may be concerned about. Police officers also handed out over 500 information leaflets.

Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety also attended last Thursday and said: “Our recent Women’s Safety Survey highlighted the fact that Barking Town Centre and Barking Station were hotspots where women didn’t feel safe, so I am glad to see that the council and police are listening to residents and putting things in place.

“We want residents and visitors to the borough to feel safe when they’re walking about, so we will continue to work closely with the police to make this happen.”

Inspector Dan Bacon said: "It was a successful event, with some good feedback from both the officers and the community. Our intention is to engage with as many people as possible and discuss factors that may contribute to making them feel vulnerable or unsafe. We can then work with the council and problem solve these factors, but in order make positive changes to the town centre and the way we police it, we need the engagement of the community. We are listening"

Over the last year, the council has also increased enforcement patrols in Barking Town Centre including at the station and London Road Car Park as well as extending Barking Market up to the station parade to reduce antisocial behaviour.

Also, following on from the Women’s Safety Survey, street lighting and the amount of CCTV cameras in the borough has increased.