MCK100

I saw a policeman with a bike in Peckham Park the other day, just standing around, keeping an eye out. I was pleased - it looks as if police are trying to increase their presence in the park, following several recent events.

@alice I suggest you reserve judgement until you've experienced it yourself.

It should be on the SNT crime radar - when I was given a crime number the police told me they'd be informing the SNT. @KS23 Sorry this happened to you, it's not very nice. If it happens again, I'd try to take a photo of them from inside your house, assuming you can see who's at the front door from one of your windows. I'm assuming you don't have a doorbell cam - I doubt they'd target people who do. If it keeps happening, that might be a good deterrent

Hello @ecde, no I don't have an American accent, but the police did tell me they had targeted other people (including a 60 year old woman). Sounds like it's definitely the same bunch. I haven't seen them for a while but will keep looking for them and reporting them until the police catch the little scumbags. Just to reiterate to others, I know pelting someone with water bombs sounds benign, but the venom and intimidation with which they were doing it was anything but. Thanks for your post

@NewWave I know how you feel. Like you, I've lived and spent prolonged periods of time in some pretty crazy places and always thought I could handle a bunch of kids. But, no - they got to me and I was shaking like a leaf afterwards. That's what age does to us. But I did engage with them, so bear that in mind. My advice would be to never let anything like that stop you doing the things you love. I'm certainly not going to stop using the park, there's no way they get to take away our cherished spaces! If you see them, just change tack and keep out of their way. My dog won't even go that way again, so that's that problem solved. (If I see them again, I'm going to keep taking photos from a safe distance).

@Dulwichway Absolutely - I'm in no way trying to say that what happened was life-changing. I've encountered way worse situations and think of myself as pretty tough, which is why I took them on and got pelted. I suppose I'm just taken aback because the park always seemed so safe. But the stats I've just posted contradict that. I suppose the one of the points of this thread is to point out that they weren't just numpty youths - I'd bet money on some of them being involved in more serious criminality. And to tell others to be vigilant.

https://www.met.police.uk/area/your-area/met/southwark/peckham-rye/on-the-team/top-reported-crimes-in-this-area If you look at the stats, clearly the police and SNTs have their work cut out. There is a massive spike in crime in that area in May - almost double previous months.

@first mate I assume Alice made a mistake, as she removed her reaction. I was wondering about park wardens. As I said, there was one there last night, who was incredibly helpful and proactive. As well as bringing me to the police, he caught up with a young guy on a bike who'd earlier been the victim of an attempted theft by these kids and linked him up with the police too. But I do wonder, as I've only very occasionally seen him riding around, how many they have and what hours they patrol. I've no doubt they'd be a strong deterrent if they had a better presence. They were nowhere to be seen the first time around. Update: I've just found this: https://services.southwark.gov.uk/community-safety/community-wardens The guy in the photo at the bottom of the page was the lovely warden of last night and I've just now remembered him telling me he's based in Burgess Park. Anyway, there needs to be more of them, as I rarely see one in Peckham.

It happened again tonight. This time a group of kids ( I hate saying that, because it makes them sound less intimidating than they are), threatened to throw a water bomb at me. When I dared them, they started lobbing them. Then they started saying they were going to kill my dog and one of them jumped over the fence of the Japanese Garden and took a running kick at my dog, who got out of the way. He jumped back over the fence, then came back, came within a meter of me and threw a water bomb really hard at me. I can't be sure it was exactly the same crowd as last time, though I suspect the male ring leader could be. The police came and were amazing - as was the park warden - and are fairly confident of the identity of one of them and think they may have tried to arrest him before. There were maybe as many as 15 of them, aged 16-18, all Caucasian, girls and boys (girls being just as aggressive as the boys). The ring leader is a slight man, dark hair / eyes, possibly with facial hair about 5'6", petite, wearing an all-blue tracksuit. So please be careful when you're in the park around 6.30 / 7pm. The local SNT have been informed.

I'm thinking of going to India at Christmas and it's been 18 years since I last visited. So long ago, I can hardly remember where I went (I was there for 8 weeks...). Has anyone been to the South recently? I'm thinking Kerala, as we fancy some beach action.

I'm not being sensitive, I just don't see the logic of the argument If you see a group of kids being obnoxious and intimidating, you're gonna avoid them and call the cops, whether or not they match the description of the original group.