Actions stepped up to ensure borough is safe for all

Barking and Dagenham Council know that one of the key priorities for its residents is living in a borough that they feel safe in and has low levels of crime, and in the last year the council has implemented several initiatives to ensure this is the case.

In early 2021, the council asked residents to let them know of areas that they feel are not safe in the borough as well what they feel needs to be done to make sure Barking and Dagenham continues to be a safe place to live and work.

In the survey, which the council conducted with local women following the deaths of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, three areas kept coming up as locations where they didn’t feel safe or they felt more needed to be done to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. These three areas were Barking Town Centre, Dagenham Heathway and Chadwell Heath.

The council also asked residents to let them know things that they believe needs to be done or improved to make the borough safer.

Since the survey, the council has not only listened to what residents told them, but has also acted on it by:

• investing in a new Community Safety Enforcement Team

• increased enforcement patrols in antisocial behaviour and safety hot spots

• overhauled the council’s CCTV cameras and system

• increased lighting in dark areas highlighted by residents (can we name a couple of locations)

• extended Barking Market to the Station Parade to tackle antisocial behaviour

• supporting the launch of a brand-new Barking Town Centre police team in December 2021

The council will soon launch a Safe Haven scheme, which will provide safe places for people to go if they feel threatened, harassed or just generally unsafe. The Safe Havens will be located across the borough, in cafes, libraries, shops and similar businesses and staff will be trained to know what to do if somebody approaches them feeling unsafe.

A spokesperson sais: “We know that alongside a cleaner borough, living and working in a safe Barking and Dagenham is a key priority for our residents, and our recent surveys have reinforced this.

“We’ve got more Community Safety staff, increased patrols, invested in our CCTV system, made lighting improvements and lobbied for the new Town Centre police team. We listen, and we act.

“We want everyone to feel safe on our streets, and we will keep listening to residents and work with the police to make the improvements that are needed.”

“Inspector Mel Gilmour said: “Alongside the council, we want to make sure that everyone who lives, visits or works in Barking and Dagenham feels safe when they are out and about. We will continue to work closely with the council on a number of initiatives from joint patrols to weapon sweeps and joint operations to make sure this is the case.

“In December last year, we launched our new Barking Town Centre police team and we are already seeing that they are making a positive impact in the area.”

As part of the campaign, the council is also encouraging residents to do their part by ensuring that they continue to report any crime and antisocial behaviour to the police and if they have any concerns around safety to contact the council by emailing csp@lbbd.gov.uk.

Residents can find out more about the work the council is doing to create a safer Barking and Dagenham at www.lbbd.gov.uk/saferbdwww.lbbd.gov.uk/saferbd - here they'll start to find videos from some of our officers including enforcement officers, a case worker and a CCTV operative.