Burglary in Brockley

Recently a friend of mine who lives in Brockley was burgled during the day. She was actually off work ill on the day, she had taken a trip to the doctors which meant she almost missed the burglars, however she disturbed them on her return and they ran out. They managed to steal hundreds of pounds worth of goods.

My friend called the police and the forensics team came to investigate and give her a breakdown of what they think might have happened.

The thing that I find most disturbing is that when she went to warn her neighbours about what had happened she found out that the neighbours on both sides had also recently been burgled, but hadn’t bother to warn her.

I think people should take responsibility for keeping their neighbourhood safe, which means doing what my friend did and warning other local people. But I also think that Safer Neighbourhood Teams could do their bit by warning people when burglars have been around, even simply by means of a letter or leaflet through the door. Who knows what could have happened if she had left a window open downstairs whilst she popped to the loo upstairs.

The Boris administration has really focused on burglary and so far in London burglary hasn't risen since Boris was elected, which is fantastic as it has been rising elsewhere in the country, which is thougth to be linked to the recession. But nonetheless I intend to raise this issue with Conservative Assembly members and Kit Malthouse Vice Chair of the MPA. It's so important that communities work together to tackle crime, espcially burglary which could rise.

I’ll make sure I raise this issue with the SNT next time they do a local surgery.

Gemma Townsend

18th March 2009