YR - Haringey Borough

YT - Tottenham Police Station

Tottenham Police Station

398 High Road
Tottenham
N17 9JA
David Lammy MP Telephone: 020 8345 0765
House of Commons Facsimile: 020 8345 0764
Email: Paul.W.Hoare@met.police.uk
London www.met.police.uk
SW1A 0AA Your ref:
Our refs:
Date: 30th March 2010

Dear Mr Lammy,

Thank you for e-mail of the 12th March 2010.

I will deal with the specific points raised in your correspondence -

1. There are normally two or three robbery cars on duty however they do not patrol on a 24
hour basis. They generally patrol later in the day and into the early hours of the morning,
though these hours can be adjusted to deal with specific problems.

2. This is not an area I can discuss, especially since the investigations into these incidents
are being handled by our Serious Crime Directorate. Undercover operations are one of the
resources that can be deployed.

3. The CCTV cameras along Green Lanes are council cameras and I’m advised by our video
sentry unit that they are of a good quality although their primary use is for monitoring traffic.

4. This point has already been answered in our previous press releases and I’ve provided
Nora Mulready with the detail of our public communications around the rapes.

5. This point is covered in the detail already provided for an incident that occurred on the 9th
of January and was subject of an appeal on the 17th of February.

6. In respect of figures for robbery and sexual assault [sexual assault covers all types of
sexual assault, whether or not the suspect is known by the victim, including more minor
offences, figures for rape are much lower] I’m able to provide figures for Harringay Ward and
they are as follows -

Robbery SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB

2009 -10 2 1 1 5 4 4

Sexual offences SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB

2009-10 1 3 4 3 2 0

7. This point is covered in the detail already provided and as a result of the continuing
investigations they are not being treated as linked.

8. Police would, dependant upon the circumstances, probably use offences under of the
Public Order Act 1986 to deal with any individual who is acting inappropriately. Specifically
these would be -
S.4 Fear of provocation of violence
S.4A Intentional harassment, alarm or distress
S.5 Harassment, alarm, distress.

In addition a four day operation to tackle kerb-crawlers was carried out in March by several
neighbouring safer neighbourhood teams, together with officers from CO14 Clubs and Vice
Unit. The operation was conducted in the N15 and N17 areas and included a long stretch of
Green Lanes that runs along the border of Harringay and St Anns wards. This resulted in 22
charges for soliciting although there was no evidence of the offence being committed in
Green Lanes. A similar operation conducted in South Tottenham last year resulted in 25
arrests and is a tactic we will continue to use.

9. Having spoken with the local safer neighbourhood team sergeant he is unaware of any
arrests or investigations for offences as described on Harringay ward. The issue for my
officers is that although incidents are being posted on Harringay online they do not appear to
have been reported to police. My officers may become aware of them via Harringay online
but that could be sometime well after the event. If members of the public are concerned then
they should contact police, not necessarily by the 999 system if that isn’t appropriate, but by
use of the non-emergency number 0300 123 1212. At least then we can be made aware of a
problem, a patrol be dispatched or at least have it flagged for the attention of the local SNT.

10. The safer neighbourhood team, if they are aware of problems, can patrol and show a
visible presence to deter it and response teams can be tasked to patrol areas more
frequently. In addition operations as previously described in point 8 should help to show
people that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable.

11. Police have given updates through the local media, Harringay online and e-mail.

12. I have spoken to my officers and they are not aware of any new halfway houses that
have opened.

I believe we have certainly tried to keep the public informed and I hope this letter answers
your questions.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Hoare
Detective Superintendent
Deputy Borough Commander