Cuppa with a Copper

[Pugwash]

Dulwich Hill SNT will be at Christ Church Barry Road at 11 am Monday 21st October. They were previously holding these meetings at a pub in Forest Hill Road,

It is an informal event and an opportunity for local residents and businesses to discuss concerns etc.  Meet in the café area

Obviously should there be an emergency/riot/protest etc - the above may not take place. 

[Pugwash]

Pleased to announce that the above went ahead which gave a few residents of Dulwich Hill the opportunity to meet 2 of our local police team.  Car and mobile phone thefts were concerns raised by local residents.

Next Cuppa will take place on Monday  25th November 2024 at 11am  Make a note in your diary

[SpringTime]

Thanks, Pugwash. D'you know why they hold the meetings at 11am on Mondays? A lot of people are busy at work, school, etc. 

[Pugwash]

It is to do with shift patterns, they were  working 10 am - 7 pm. Many of those who spoke with the team today were retired. They hold meetings in the evenings every 3 months. The next one is the first week in December at 6.30. I believe it is the 4th but will double check and publish details nearer the time. Some time ago people complained that evening meetings were difficult to attend as could not get babysitters and wanted day time meetings. Being half term there were folk with children in the café, but were not interested in talking with the officers.

[SpringTime]

Okay x

[beansprout]

Would it not be possible to organise a team or zoom meeting so more local residents have the benefit / even if it is once a quarter?together with once a month face to face especially as local crime is c on the increase.

So many local residents are missing out - housebound, families, people who work.

Have to say, quite surprised that this ward and police have the time to do this. 
 

[Sue]

6 hours ago, beansprout said:

Would it not be possible to organise a team or zoom meeting so more local residents have the benefit / even if it is once a quarter?together with once a month face to face especially as local crime is c on the increase.

So many local residents are missing out - housebound, families, people who work.

Have to say, quite surprised that this ward and police have the time to do this. 
 

A Zoom meeting is a  great idea. It would be much more convenient, though it possibly has other downsides, eg it may exclude people who aren't familiar with Zoom or don't have the necessary technology.

Though tbh - and making a huge assumption - I wouldn't have thought there were many of them in this area.

Edited October 22, 2024 by Sue

[Penguin68]

One of the benefits of the live meetings is being able to take one of the PCS aside for a quiet word, to mention something you'd prefer to be discrete about. That may be a neighbour issue, or something more concerning. Or maybe it's simply a question you might be embarrassed to ask too openly. Zoom meetings don't support that. PCs use these events as sources of local information and to get an informal look at people. Again more difficult in Zoom where you have less opportunity to 'read' body language. There are meetings where Zoom is a good addition to, or even substitute for live, but I don't think these are them. 

[Sue]

11 minutes ago, Penguin68 said:

One of the benefits of the live meetings is being able to take one of the PCS aside for a quiet word, to mention something you'd prefer to be discrete about. That may be a neighbour issue, or something more concerning. Or maybe it's simply a question you might be embarrassed to ask too openly. Zoom meetings don't support that. PCs use these events as sources of local information and to get an informal look at people. Again more difficult in Zoom where you have less opportunity to 'read' body language. There are meetings where Zoom is a good addition to, or even substitute for live, but I don't think these are them. 

Fair enough points.  I've never been to one.

It wouldn't occur to me that a meeting like that was the right place to have a "quiet word" with someone!

Maybe the purposes of them should be better publicised, or maybe I just haven't been paying attention.

I'm a bit worried about your comment about "getting an informal look at people".

Why would they need to do that? Surely it's a relatively small self selected group of people who attend these meetings?

Edited October 22, 2024 by Sue

[Penguin68]

6 minutes ago, Sue said:

I'm a bit worried about your comment about "getting an informal look at people".

If a topic is raised, say concerns about street dealing, and everyone is engaged, interested and looks involved that tells you something, if everyone apart from the questioner looks bored or confused maybe it isn't a burning local issue. You can 'read' live meetings better than Zoom normally,when most people are just looking at their screen/ camera. And not actually at the speaker. 

[Sue]

15 minutes ago, Penguin68 said:

If a topic is raised, say concerns about street dealing, and everyone is engaged, interested and looks involved that tells you something, if everyone apart from the questioner looks bored or confused maybe it isn't a burning local issue. You can 'read' live meetings better than Zoom normally,when most people are just looking at their screen/ camera. And not actually at the speaker. 

How many local people are usually at these meetings? 

[Penguin68]

No more than 4-5 at one time, for the ones I've been in, but people do leave and go as it's informal ('cuppa with a copper' is a good description). This is different from formal meetings where reports are made.

[Sue]

6 hours ago, Penguin68 said:

No more than 4-5 at one time, for the ones I've been in, but people do leave and go as it's informal ('cuppa with a copper' is a good description). This is different from formal meetings where reports are made.

That's surely not anywhere near enough to get a feeling for what local people think about a particular issue?

[Penguin68]

It's not a survey, but it's not bad that local law enforcement talk informally with local people, who aren't either current victims of crime or current perpetrators. Remember their jobs don't normally involve ordinary joes. 

[SpringTime]

What's an ordinary joe? I've had many interactions with the police due to my behaviours. Most of the time I've cooperated the best I can and supported their efforts. Am I an ordinary joe, an extaordinary joe, or a Joey? Which box do I jump in next...

[alice]

Surely the Met are looking at how best they can  use their officers;  this doesn’t seem to be an efficient use of time 

[Penguin68]

We are policed 'by consent' and by a civilian force, seen as part of the community. Police need to be spending more time in the community, not less. We will never replace the 'beat copper'; sadly, this may be the closest we will now get. 

[jazzer]

They need to be out "Policing" stopping and solving criminal activity, not drinking tea. 

[SpringTime]

Right, I'm in a mood. If we're gonna have tea with our fella coppers, please can we have it at a time that suits as most of us as poss, rather than a silly slot that hardly anyone can join. Please. More folk the better, less folk the worse.

[OutOfFocus]

1 hour ago, jazzer said:

They need to be out "Policing" stopping and solving criminal activity

Why is information gathering not considered to be policing. They need to know about alleged crime before they can solve it.

Edited October 22, 2024 by OutOfFocus

[jazzer]

There are more effective and efficient ways of reporting i.e. online rather than dragging them away from doing what they get paid to do, catching criminals, as in all the car thefts which have been rampaging across SE22 and into SE23, turning up to break ins, stopping anti social behaviour, drug activity etc. 

Edited October 22, 2024 by jazzer

[beansprout]

I am no longer in ED…the point is there is never going to be a good time for everyone..

Be very grateful to have this opportunity to engage with pc plod..

It is held in a church, which may I add safe - for everyone..

 

 

 

[alice]

The library might be a more inclusive space

[Sue]

1 hour ago, beansprout said:

I am no longer in ED…the point is there is never going to be a good time for everyone..

Be very grateful to have this opportunity to engage with pc plod..

It is held in a church, which may I add safe - for everyone..

 

 

 

I thought there had recently been thefts from local churches?

[Pugwash]

I am afraid that the days when it was normal to have a copper on the beat who was seen daily are long gone. Those of us who have lived in ED  for years will remember our old beat officer Adrian Crust who spent around 10 years in the area. Adrian knew his patch and the informal chats he had with residents and businesses gave him essential information of crime/possible crime/concerns etc. Also for many years we had a local police station (plus police horses) where you could pop in to give/receive information.

During the pandemic, the SNT held zoom meetings from their base at the time in Gipsy Hill. These were well advertised via social media and EDF - attendance varied from about 4 - 8 people.  The SNT is now based along with many other teams in Peckham Police Station.

Dulwich Hill Team cover from Crystal Palace Road, Forest Hill Road, Wood Vale plus the Dawson Heights Estate, They work on foot so are limited in what they can cover on a shift. At the moment they are down to 2 staff due to sickness.

On their way to the Cuppa Session, they were stopped by a number of residents who had various concerns i.e car thefts/damage etc which they noted. 

Dulwich Library= this was used by SNT for a few sessions but was abandoned as residents felt uncomfortable in a public place with limited privacy. If privacy is requested in Christ Church- the police can access one of the vestry rooms.

Whilst many of the regular attendees do have access to computers etc, the Wi Fi connection is not always brilliant in Christ Church. I will mention the idea of zoom meetings to the team when I next see them. The aim is to have monthly Cuppa Sessions during the day and continue with the evening quarterly meetings.  

Police visibility over the year has been patchy as they have been called to cover riots/demonstrations etc.

Many people complain that the police do not do anything- what has been noticed that incidents are not being reported to the police. This came up at the evening meeting where several comments were made about incidents (mobile phone thefts) which were taking place around a specific area. Despite the number of incidents- the victims had not actually informed the police on the basis that the police would not do anything. Details were given to the officers present at the meeting.