Another stabbing in Chadwell Heath!

Stop the knives!

A knife crime incident occurred at Redbridge College (20th October 2009) around lunch time. As alarming as this it was not a fatal incident and both the College and the local crime prevention agencies, including the Police, are working hard to increase community confidence and remove the threat of reprisals. Today and tomorrow a full police presence will be present, as our extremely hard working Chadwell Safer Neighbourhoods Team, have rearranged their shifts to facilitate this. I have been advised that the college has been very professional and cooperative with the Police and that this incident has shocked them too. This is the first incident of its type on college grounds and the management are working hard towards a return to normality.

Only recently a school boy stabbing occurred between pupils of Chadwell Heath Foundation School. Arrests have been made for both incidents with 6 boys arrested yesterday near the college and the perpetrator of knife crime arrested in the School boy incident. Early reports suggest the perpetrator of the crime was not a college student. Crimes of this nature have a demoralising and intimidatory affect on local people causing much distress.

Somehow, we must get across a message of community cohesion and the futility of knife crime to this our young people. One way in which we will be engaging with young people is via the use of the Redbridge Youth Bus, which will be providing, counselling, sexual, health advice and a number of activities including a DJ workshop and gaming consoles in a stewarded atmosphere. The bus has been at Christie Gardens for the last two weeks, but will now be parking in Crucible Close every Thursday till the end of December. The times of the activities are from 18:00 - 21:00 and I would encourage people to send any young people they know to the bus - for what is one of the few youth engagement programmes in the Borough. I am working with the Police, Parks Police, Parks Management Team and the Detached Youth Worker's of Redbridge Youth service for a longer more productive scheme to be held during the same days and times next summer.

I will also be working towards the initiation of two new NHW' one in the Seven Kings roads adjoining crucible park and one at the roads from Little Heath, Chadwell Heath Lane, Tendring Way, Freshwell Avenue, Chafford Way and Rochford Avenue, in an attempt to create a better communication network between crime reduction agencies and local people. Perhaps this would be a good moment for parents to speak with their children, or to invite them to the watch meetings, to directly communicate with Police and ASBO officers with a view to uncovering the extent of youth knife crime. This could encourage good community citizenship at an early age and would reduce the propensity of crime. Letters will be sent to affected roads shortly.

Here are details of another peace project I am working towards - the Redbridge peace Monument.