For a few years we were a two fridge family. This was, I have no hesitation in confessing, extravagant and bad for the environment. It was also entirely unintentional.

When we moved to our current house we, of course, brought a lot of stuff with us, including our own fridge freezer. We’d failed to appreciate that the previous owners had one ‘fitted’ in the kitchen and were leaving it. Finding ourselves with two fridges we did what any self-respecting couple who like to pretend they have an active social life would do: we had a drinks fridge.

To be fair there wasn’t that much else we could do. It was firmly wedged in (as I discovered when I finally had no choice but to remove it, which I could only do by also removing chunks of the kitchen) and we never had enough confidence that it was cool enough to store anything that might go off and poison us – it was probably past it when we inherited it. But it was great for storing all those best served chilled products, and meant we never had to choose whether we kept vodka or fish fingers in the freezer.

But all good things must come to an end and, after a brief period standing in when our ‘proper’ fridge died it too came to the end of its long and faithful service.

After somehow getting it out of the cupboard that had been fitted around it we called the council and arranged for a bulk item collection and, until they were due to take it left the old fellow in the front garden.

And from there he was stolen.

Someone came into our front garden and took it. What’s worse is that it was right up against our front window and we were in when it happened, but despite the size and the awkwardness of it they managed to take it without us noticing.

Now to a degree I don’t really care. While we’d paid the council to take it, the net result is that it was taken, it’s neither here nor there how it went. And it was a really manky fridge. It had been left for a while after it died and scary things had started growing in it (which also made me glad we’d pretty much only ever used it for liquids that were not only in sealed containers but also had antiseptic properties.)

What does annoy me is that it would have been taken by someone who will probably take out the cooling pipes – which apparently have a scrap value – and then fly-tip the remains. And that it was, technically, theft – it was on my property and taken by someone who did not have permission. Not that I’m going to report it.

But it’s also a lesson about home security. And here comes the morale of my tale, like He-Man at the end of an episode… That someone managed to remove a large, cumbersome fridge, fairly inconveniently placed in our garden, without us noticing while we were in the house rather suggests that if it had been something valuable left near an open window that could easily have gone too. The crime reports I publish currently have too many burglaries made possible by doors and windows left open because of the hot weather, and if my fridge is anything to go by, it’s not hard for thief to take advantage of the smallest opportunity.

The map below details crimes reported in Wandsworth between 8-15 July 2010, it features a total of 81 crimes (23 fewer than last week). Two wards Furzedown in Tooting and Southfields in Putney have no crimes in this report.

If you have any information on any of these crimes you can get in touch with the local police on 020 7350 1122 or via Crimestoppers (anonymously, if you wish) on 0800 555 111, you may be eligible for a reward if your information leads to an arrest.

You can click on the individual markers for more information.


View Wandsworth Crime Briefing for 8-15 July 2010 in a larger map

In an emergency you should always call 999, but don’t forget that in non-emergency cases you can call the police on 0300 123 1212 or report crime via online.met.police.uk

  1. Yellow flags represent burglaries and red flags represent street crime.
  2. The briefing only contains details of burglaries and robberies. Other crimes are not included.
  3. You can see more detail by following the link to the Google website.
  4. The flags are not placed precisely (it would be irresponsible to advertise victims of burglary) but instead are spaced roughly equally on the roads they took place. The idea is to give a visual representation of the spread and range of crime in Wandsworth, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
  5. While I try to ensure the data is accurate it is reliant on the information I receive, and I’m only human, so it may be mistakes have crept in. Please let me know if you think you’ve spotted one.

The Office of Fair Trading are launching a campaign against doorstep selling today.

You might think it isn’t a problem, around 96% of people claim they would never use a doorstep trader; however, around 25% admit that they might be tempted in some circumstances to have work carried out straight away.

It’s these people that rogue traders target, knowing that by creating a pressure situation (even if that pressure is not apparent to their victim) they can improve their chances of a successful con. Last year there were over 12,000 complaints about doorstep callers and over 5,000 of these related to house maintenance. But that’s the tip of the iceberg, there are clearly hundreds of thousands that don’t complain. And a real problem of under-reporting from those who fall victim. One story I heard recently from elsewhere in the country was of a former senior police officer who had lost tens of thousands of pounds but was too embarrassed of falling victim to report it.

The council and police partnership are very proactive in tackling this problem (I recently posted about Operation Liberal) and are continuing to look at how we can tackle it. The OFT campaign is designed to complement the work taking place locally so keep an eye out for it.

The map below details crimes reported in Wandsworth between 1 – 8 July 2010, it features a total of 104 crimes (12 more than last week).

Again, however, the majority of them are burglaries and too many of them made possible by people leaving doors and windows open in the hot weather. Always make sure your doors and windows are secure when you aren’t in the room, and never leave valuable items in easy view to tempt burglars.

If you have any information on any of these crimes you can get in touch with the local police on 020 7350 1122 or via Crimestoppers (anonymously, if you wish) on 0800 555 111, you may be eligible for a reward if your information leads to an arrest.

You can click on the individual markers for more information.


View Wandsworth Crime Briefing for 24 June – 1 July 2010 in a larger map

In an emergency you should always call 999, but don’t forget that in non-emergency cases you can call the police on 0300 123 1212 or report crime via online.met.police.uk

  1. Yellow flags represent burglaries and red flags represent street crime.
  2. The briefing only contains details of burglaries and robberies. Other crimes are not included.
  3. You can see more detail by following the link to the Google website.
  4. The flags are not placed precisely (it would be irresponsible to advertise victims of burglary) but instead are spaced roughly equally on the roads they took place. The idea is to give a visual representation of the spread and range of crime in Wandsworth, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
  5. While I try to ensure the data is accurate it is reliant on the information I receive, and I’m only human, so it may be mistakes have crept in. Please let me know if you think you’ve spotted one.

Great news that the Home Secretary is limiting the use of stop and search under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Of all the erosions of our civil liberties under thirteen years of Labour their insistence that the best way to counter terrorism was to restrict the freedom of the innocent was one of the most insidious. It’s amazing, once you start talking about it, how many people you know who have been stopped and the culture that it creates. I’ve been questioned for taking a photo and have lost count of the number of times I’ve had my bag examined on the way out of the Tube (although my understanding was always that suicide bombers don’t actually make it to the exit).

And the amazing thing is that it’s hard to point to any success stories from Section 44. There have been arrests, to be sure, but as far as I know none have been terrorism related. A point echoed by Shami Chakrabarti in the BBC article.

My one disappointment in the news is that it seems to have been driven more by the European Court of Human Rights than by the government – but whatever the reason it’s one to celebrate.

The map below details crimes reported in Wandsworth between 24 June – 1 July 2010, it features a total of 92 crimes (14 more than last week). The balance is heavily towards burglary this week, which make up 70 of the total and a significant number due to the hot weather. A thief may only take a few seconds if he sees something tempting through an open window, so be very careful about leaving windows open (even just a crack) in unattended rooms.

If you have any information on any of these crimes you can get in touch with the local police on 020 7350 1122 or via Crimestoppers (anonymously, if you wish) on 0800 555 111, you may be eligible for a reward if your information leads to an arrest.

You can click on the individual markers for more information.


View Wandsworth Crime Briefing for 24 June – 1 July 2010 in a larger map

In an emergency you should always call 999, but don’t forget that in non-emergency cases you can call the police on 0300 123 1212 or report crime via online.met.police.uk

  1. Yellow flags represent burglaries and red flags represent street crime.
  2. The briefing only contains details of burglaries and robberies. Other crimes are not included.
  3. You can see more detail by following the link to the Google website.
  4. The flags are not placed precisely (it would be irresponsible to advertise victims of burglary) but instead are spaced roughly equally on the roads they took place. The idea is to give a visual representation of the spread and range of crime in Wandsworth, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
  5. While I try to ensure the data is accurate it is reliant on the information I receive, and I’m only human, so it may be mistakes have crept in. Please let me know if you think you’ve spotted one.

I spent yesterday morning out with the police and trading standards as part of the national day of action for Operation Liberal.

Operation Liberal is the national doorstep crime intelligence unit, targeting things like things like rogue traders and distraction burglars. Doorstep crime is a real problem, with many of the criminals sharing information and considering a career, rather than crime. They target the most vulnerable in our communities (the average victim is 79) and take tens of thousands of pounds off them, frequently doing no work at all or even leaving people’s properties in a dangerous condition (in one case they left not only their victim’s house, but also the neighbour’s properties at risk of imminent collapse). A story from this site at the end of last year was about an elderly lady who was about to be ripped off for £16,000 after already losing £14,000 in a con a few years previously.

Yesterday’s operation in Wandsworth was two pronged, one targeting ‘white vans’ to ensure they were legitimate tradesmen and the other visiting houses where work was being done with police and trading standards to speak to the owner and builders.

The second also gave the opportunity to provide information to neighbours. A frequent tactic used by criminals is to claim to be doing some ‘work’ nearby (using the cover of legitimate tradesmen working at neighbours houses) and to have noticed some loose tiles or guttering that they can put right. By far the most popular approach, used by 40% of con-men and distraction burglars, is to be from the “water board” despite it being decades since water boards existed!

Hopefully their potential targets now know to be careful and who to contact with information if con-men do visit

In all the day in Wandsworth caught 10 offences, resulting in two confiscated vans and one arrest. A good result for the council and police. Nationally the figures haven’t been collated, but last year’s operation saw more than 200 arrests and £200,000 of property recovered and as a result fewer people getting ripped off – hopefully this year will have the same impact.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday at the National Worklessness Advisory Panel (which reminded that I’d not done the usual post about JSA figures in Wandsworth). While I’m not going to go into most of the discussions there were some interesting topics raised. One which started me thinking was a discussion about the unintended consequences of local government finance – essentially that you are often effectively rewarded to fail. If you succeed as a council, for example, in reducing unemployment you may see yourself getting less grant from the government because you are less deprived, while other public services may see benefits.

Which set me thinking…

The graph is a comparison of the rate of working-age benefit claims against the recorded rate of violence against the person. It isn’t perfect, the data comes from two difference sources: benefit claims from Nomis are an average from the 2009 quarterly figures, crime from the Home Office’s RDS site and is for 2008-2009 and, because of local government reorganisation some areas couldn’t be compared.

However, I think it gives a clear picture of the relationship. And there’s probably no surprise that, generally the higher the rate of claims (and by extension unemployment) the higher the rate of crime. I will confess I was a little surprised that there wasn’t a tipping point at which recorded violent crime started shooting up. Instead it seems the range of broadens; it would be interesting to know why, for example, Knowsley has a relatively high rate of working age benefits (17.46%) but relatively low violent crime (11 crimes per 1,000 people) and whether that’s a consequence of effective policing and community safety work or something else.

As additionally evidence I would point to the increases in various crime types in Wandsworth, and elsewhere, during the recession.

While very few authorities fall bang on the trend line it rises at approximately 1.2 crimes per 1,000 for every 1% rise in claim rate. To give an example of what this means Wandsworth has a population of 282,000 (according to the Home Office, at least) so a 1% reduction in claim rate could be expected to result in 338 fewer violent crimes in a year if we followed the average trend. Perhaps not that many, but when you consider the costs of those crimes in police time, hopefully court time (processing the offender) and potentially hospital treatment (for the victim) it’s easy to see the that the impact on taxpayers’ money very quickly adds up.

Of course, Wandsworth is mature enough to recognise that the benefits of lower unemployment outweigh the potential loses in grants, but it is an interesting example of the inter-relationship of public services and something that every public service needs to consider carefully while we face the consequences of a huge deficit.

(Given my occasional bleatings about open data, if you are interested feel free to download the data I used to produce the chart and let me know if I’ve got it totally wrong. While I’m confident of the basic premise I caveat it all with the fact that I am not a statistician, and this is a result of procrastination and far too much coffee today.)

The map below details crimes reported in Wandsworth between 17 – 24 June 2010, it features a total of 78 crimes (18 fewer than last week). One ward, Southfields, had no robberies or burglaries reported.

If you have any information on any of these crimes you can get in touch with the local police on 020 7350 1122 or via Crimestoppers (anonymously, if you wish) on 0800 555 111, you may be eligible for a reward if your information leads to an arrest.

You can click on the individual markers for more information.


View Wandsworth Crime Briefing for 17 – 24 June 2010 in a larger map

In an emergency you should always call 999, but don’t forget that in non-emergency cases you can call the police on 0300 123 1212 or report crime via online.met.police.uk

  1. Yellow flags represent burglaries and red flags represent street crime.
  2. The briefing only contains details of burglaries and robberies. Other crimes are not included.
  3. You can see more detail by following the link to the Google website.
  4. The flags are not placed precisely (it would be irresponsible to advertise victims of burglary) but instead are spaced roughly equally on the roads they took place. The idea is to give a visual representation of the spread and range of crime in Wandsworth, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
  5. While I try to ensure the data is accurate it is reliant on the information I receive, and I’m only human, so it may be mistakes have crept in. Please let me know if you think you’ve spotted one.


View Neighbourhood Watch in Wandsworth in a larger map
A fairly hefty map, but one I thought I’d put together following my post about freedom of information.

The data I used is freely available from the council’s website (although not in a very useful format). But, with a bit of copy and paste, some processing through a few tools available on the internet and a Google spreadsheet and voila, a map sort of telling you where is, and isn’t, covered by NW in Wandsworth.

It isn’t ideal, it’s a little crowded at this size, and the Google standard flags don’t really show it off that well. Additionally, because it’s roads it isn’t that accurate. For example, a long road might only be partially covered. Finally, there are a few roads that I couldn’t find – however hard I (or Google) looked.

But I would ask one question: how is anyone’s privacy infringed by this, and how would it be infringed if I used postcodes instead of road names?