• FOLLOWING the email published last week addressed to me – having already responded to the resident directly as part of an ongoing item of casework – I would like to clarify my stance on community safety in Camden, (Yours, in a ‘nil response’ situation, copy of letter to Councillor Edmund Frondigoun et al. Re: Security Patrol, June 6).

Having lived on Ampthill estate for several years, I am acutely aware of the impact of anti-social behaviour.

More crucially, having been hospitalised following a serious criminal assault as a child, dealing with the resultant feelings of fear and shame, I am aggrieved to hear my resident’s experience.

Since our election my colleagues, councillors Samata Khatoon, Shah Miah and I have made it a priority to improve public safety in our ward, chiefly by supporting the following initiatives.

— The installation of new security cameras on our estates which target identification of persistent offenders.

— We have this month approved a £15,000 security initiative on an estate as requested by residents, using our CIL community infrastructure levy, budget, one which also improves communal spaces, preventing their use for drug dealing.

— We have also approved a similar grant for the New Horizon Centre.

— Lobbying for an increased numbers for our excellent neighbourhood police team with our safer neighbourhood forum.

I am glad that the police have recently increased the strength of the St Pancras and Somers Town neighbourhood team to five full-time beat officers.

We’re pleased at this progress but we are pushing for more to be done to tackle the increase in anti-social behaviour:

— Firstly, overhauling how we monitor and analyse sources of information across council services to pre-empt outbreaks of drug dealing and ASB.

— Secondly, as raised with the borough commander last year, the police must urgently commit specialist resources to disrupt the supply of hard drugs in south Camden. Although the early results of Project ADDER have been positive, more is needed to combat the ongoing drugs crisis.

— Finally we and the police must improve how we manage reports of crime and ASB, to demonstrate that when reports are made, that they are acted on.

As a backbench councillor, there is a limit to the power to directly tackle crime in our ward. However, we are committed to seeing through the action plan above; St Pancras and Somers Town are fine neighbourhoods with close-knit communities, which I am proud to represent. We should not feel afeared or ashamed to walk their streets.

CLLR EDMUND FRONDIGOUN
Labour, St Pancras & Somers Town ward