New police chief promises "relentless" effort on crime

5:36pm Sunday 11th February 2007

By Sara Nelson

AS BROMLEY's new police chief settles into his role, he admits there is room for improvement in the borough's policing. But he is promising a "relentless" effort to fight crime. SARA NELSON spoke to Chief Superintendent Charles Griggs.

Mr Griggs, whose last position was as the head of the Met's traffic unit, was Bromley's deputy borough commander up until December 2005 and says he is "immensely proud" to return to the borough.

With more than 28 years of policing under his belt, Mr Griggs says one of his toughest challenges will be to tackle the perception of crime in the borough.

Chief Superintendent Martin Greenslade's successor said: "Crime in Bromley is down. But if you look at public attitude surveys regarding this, Bromley has always come out really badly.

"The borough is unique. It has the largest community of over 65s in London. A lot of them were born here and have lived here all of their lives. They remember better times 50 years ago.

"Bromley people have a low threshold of tolerance and high expectations. We have to respond to people's perceptions, we can't ignore them, they do expect more from their police.

"For example, thanks to a lot of work in the town centre, the level of woundings has dropped phenomenally in the last 18 months, but if you asked about people's feelings of safety, I don't know that it has changed, I imagine it hasn't."

However, Mr Griggs says he is positive and proud of the impact the force's Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) has had on the borough.

He said: "I have personally experienced the level of policing SNTs have been able to do that police officers have not. For example, PCSOs can spend time getting to know local people, they have time to deal with it.

"With police it can be more confrontational, but with PCSOs it is more about dealing with the quality of life issues that cops have become more distant from.

"When they are out on the beat I cannot help but be impressed by their visibility in the borough. I see cops, I see PCSOs, I don't think I ever remember seeing that many police around when I was a kid.

"Other boroughs look to us for neighbourhood policing and I am very proud of that."

While Mr Griggs says Bromley police has been heralded as a trailblazer for its Safer Neighbourhood Teams, one things he admits the force is not so efficient in is the way it manages public demand.

At the moment, borough police calls are routed to a local office, where they are answered and officers are dispatched accordingly.

But by June, all calls will be routed to a central control room in Lambeth. The new service, known as MetCall, is part of the Met's ongoing modernisation of its communication systems and aims to improve the public's access to the police.

"We can't respond to everything at the same time, we have to prioritise what we have got. There are a lot of abandoned and missed calls in the Met. People will dial 999 and give up waiting.

"How good is our initial response on the phone? Sometimes we should say 'no, we can't send anyone out immediately' but we don't and we raise people's expectations that there will be a police response.

"Sometimes we do make mistakes, but we should stand up and be counted for that. We have got to address our approach to customer service.

"With MetCall, everything will be captured and routed and we will manage the demand. Improvements in technology mean we can get this right and improve our front-line service delivery.

"We are looking to Islington for demand management, it is heralded as the best in the Met."

With an overall priority to reduce crime in the borough, Mr Griggs says the force is taking a pro-active role in monitoring crime and learning the habits of criminals.

He said: "We are targetting gangs. We know where they are and we are knocking on their doors. Rather than waiting for things to happen, we get on the front foot and we look to disrupt.

"And when we get evidence, we arrest them. That has to be the culture of Bromley police.

"Similarly, youth-on-youth crime, street robberies and vehicle crime tends to take place during a peak time between 3 - 5pm. So we are aiming for maximum visibility at this time with our SNTs and our cops.

"I want to reduce crime in Bromley, apart from it being a corporate target for me to achieve, I take great pride in what I do and for me it is a personal challenge."

As street crime and robberies on both domestic and commercial premises rise (there were 47 armed robberies in Bromley in 2006, compared to 37 in 2005), Mr Griggs says he looking carefully at the problem.

He said: "Why is it going up? The answer is, I don't know. The profile of these robberies has changed. We have intelligence systems in place and we are looking at things like this.

"I won't compartmentalise groups of criminals. No matter what we are looking at; drug dealers, burglars, whatever, they make people's lives an absolute misery and it's all about striking a balance between the softer things and serious crime. How do you prioritise one thing for another? You can't."

He added: "I am not a knight in shining armour that has arrived to solve all of Bromley's problems. However as borough commander I want to make Bromley safer, and inspire, lead and motivate my cops and staff. As a team we can really make a difference.

"The vast majority of people in this borough are law abiding. The ones that should be quaking with fear are the bad guys."

Mr Griggs says morale in the force is also key to improving performance within the force.

He said: "My challenges are building confidence among my officers internally and giving them confidence to use their powers. And they need that confidence, it says we are valued by the people of Bromley.

"I want to instill pride in the police for working for the people in this borough - I tell them they work for Bromley, not for me.

"We have to get on the front foot, we have to use our powers effectively and bring the community with us."

He said: "The family is getting bigger. I am excited by what we have now and I will make the best use of what we have got."

Mr Griggs says he is keen to work with the political representatives in the borough.

He said: "I see members of the council and MPs as being really important people to foster a positive relationship with the police. They have a responsibility to make Bromley safer too.

"They are influential in that they can shape how the electorate feel about Bromley. I want to work with these people rather than against them.

"We are all hoping to achieve the same thing. We are here to make things better for the people who live here. They all contribute to making Bromley a better place to live, socialise and come to."

Beckenham MP Jacqui Lait: "Most decent residents in Bromley believe there is a lot of crime, and frankly, if they felt the criminals were being dealt with, they would be so much more confident about going out at night.

"There would be a much more balanced evening social mix if older people felt confident enough to go out at night."

Leader of the council Stephen Carr is calling for more confidence-building between the police and the public.

"What I want to see is high profile, effective policing. There is no doubt some people's quality of life is affected by their perception of crime, no matter how low-level. I want to see a committment to pursue these issues and bring people to account."

Bromley and Chislehurst MP Bob Neill: "Overall, Bromley is a safe borough compared to much of London but some areas need more work.

"I'd like to see a major blitz on alcohol-related violence and disorder in the town centre and more pro-active work to tackle the growing problem of disorder by youngsters on buses and around bus stops."

Mr Griggs is a keen AFC Wimbledon fan and both he and his two sons hold season tickets for the team.

The 46-year-old was born and raised in Bromley and still lives here with his wife, Suzan, who also works in the borough.

He added: "A job like this is very testing for my family but that only adds to my responsibility to try and make the borough safe for them."

Mr Griggs said: "I joined the police as I wanted to go into some sort of public service.

"I felt it would be a fantastic opportunity, challenging, demanding, exciting - all those things that spark a passion when you're young.

"Has it lived up to it? Yes it has. My experience of policing has been everything and more than I ever imagined."