Last night I attended the Victoria Ward Community Meeting (previously called Neighbourhood Action Panel). It is one of the most useful meetings that I attend as a councillor, bringing the Police, councillors and various other agencies together with residents across the ward to discuss local problems and come up with solutions.
There was universal agreement that drug dealing in the ward should remain the highest priority for the local Police team. They have had a number of successes recently, but it’s clear that the fight will need to continue. As well as relaying concerns over drug-dealing, I was also able to raise a number of smaller issues such as speeding, dangerous riding of motorbikes, and pigeons. (It may sound trivial but irresponsible feeding of pigeons is causing a huge mess in certain parts of the ward)
Details of ongoing police work must be kept confidential, but it is reassuring to hear that certain operations are going on. It sometimes happens that residents think that their complaints are being ignored when in reality the police are gathering intelligence and evidence that will give them the chance to secure a conviction, and they obviously have to avoid any chance of letting the criminals know that they are on to them.
