I recently attended the tri-borough Serious Violence Summit held by Barking and Dagenham Council, the first of its kind, which saw key partners come together to discuss ways they can jointly tackle the complex root causes of violent crime.
The model has brought together the local police forces in Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham and Havering to form the East Basic Command Unit. Tri-borough structures require tri-borough cooperation. From City Hall, I will monitor this new cooperative way of working by the Met to ensure residents continue to receive the level of service from the police they expect.
During the summit, we heard from the council leader and other key figures involved in developing a public health approach to tackling violent crime. This approach treats violence like any other health issue that causes disease or physical harm and invests in the delivery of vital early intervention services, better public education and medical and mental health care.
I commend the borough for undertaking this initiative along with other proactive policing work being implemented to clamp down on all forms of crime.
As a local priority, I will continue to lobby the mayor for the retention of the S92 officer scheme, where councils can “buy” an officer and get another funded through City Hall, to work on their local crime priorities. I know this scheme is particularly valued in Barking and Dagenham in terms of helping to combat anti-social behaviour.
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