At the end of our public meeting on 24th October 2024, a number of people raised concerns about not feeling safe in West Ealing. We decided to follow up on this to see how widespread these concerns were. We set up an online survey which ran for a month, finishing on 20th February. We also commissioned a journalist, Smriti Gopal, to investigate this topic in more depth.
The results of the online survey are available to view here. It is important to point out that the respondents chose to complete the survey i.e. it was self-selecting, so it should not be taken as an opinion poll. Even so, the results clearly indicate a high level of concern about anti-social behaviour and that people are feeling less safe in West Ealing than a year ago.
Lastly, in this brief introduction, it is worth pointing out that West Ealing is home to Ealing Magistrates’ Court, the Probation Office and RISE (the addiction treatment agency). This inevitably means more people with a history of anti-social behaviour coming to West Ealing.
The following is an extract from an article by Smriti Gopal:
In addition to the above mentioned online survey, we have been speaking to many residents anonymously about the incidents that they witnessed and to better understand their concerns and find ways of how the community can come together and improve safety for everyone. To help us get as full a picture as possible, we also spoke to some local agencies offering help and support. This included the local police, the team at Solace, a West Ealing based mental health resource centre providing a support network to the residents in the Ealing borough and some local pharmacies. We were not able to get a response from RISE.
The centre of West Ealing is covered by two wards – Walpole and Hanwell Broadway. We spoke to Patrick Chapman, Chair of the quarterly Walpole ward police meetings where local residents can raise their concerns with the ward police team. He explained the priorities and goals for the Walpole ward. “Antisocial behaviour is right at the top of our priorities including drugs which is another high priority and street drinking – all equally important. Drugs and antisocial behaviour are major issues in society these days. We ask the police to focus on particular locations within the ward which are major hot spots.”
He added, “Antisocial behaviour sadly is an endemic problem in society. Police are doing their best with their work. If the police are warned and told about these problems, police will patrol the area to try to solve the problem. Maybe we, as residents, can change the pattern how the police work to make a positive impact. Walpole ward is getting more police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSO). We are getting more staff on the police team than before. This means that they will be able to patrol more and help all of us in the area to keep a lid on antisocial behaviour.”
Inspector Lee Ballard heads up the Neighbourhood Policing team covering West Ealing. He attended the most recent Walpole panel meeting in February (next on is 20th May). He agreed with Mr Chapman’s comments and went on to say, “My team and I are committed to being highly visible and present on the streets of West Ealing to deter crime and tackle our local issues and concerns through community-based policing.”
We had a wide range of comments from residents about how anti-social behaviour affected them:
“There have been alleged murders in Dean Gardens and I don’t feel safe to go through West Ealing anymore, especially at night time. Because of this, I now do my shopping online.”
“Antisocial behaviour makes me feel fearful when walking on the streets in west Ealing. I now might walk less and drive more or drive elsewhere to do my shopping and errands.”
“Walking through Dean Gardens used to be a shortcut for me. I don’t walk down this route anymore, especially at night because of the following alleged incidents – there are a group of men just sitting on the bench in the night and one doesn’t know what their intentions are. Sometimes they are alcoholics drinking and one of them had a kitchen vegetable knife with them. The guy started chasing a passer-by around the park with the knife. There have been rapes in this park and because of all these crimes, we’ll be looking to move out of West Ealing.”
“I’m not actually keen on walking down Melbourne Avenue after everything is shut. While the supermarket is open it’s not that bad. Also, the hotel around the corner has been open which sheds a bit of light. Generally, this a very poorly lit stretch and certainly once the supermarket starts shutting, in the evening, I don’t really like walking down here because there can be people allegedly hanging around and loitering that area and this hanging around has got worse, this past year. It doesn’t feel that safe.”
Inspector Lee Ballard addressed the concern of safety, “If anyone felt unsafe they can download the Street Safe app and use it to report issues anonymously, where you felt unsafe in public places and explain why; the app would identify the hotspots.”
Melbourne Avenue, Mattock Lane and Radbourne Walk are some of the major hot spots which the police are currently focusing on for the priority of drugs and antisocial behaviour. PS Katie Weston from the Metropolitan Police, also attended the last Walpole ward panel meeting. She said, “There has been a significant increase in street drinking and drug use since December. I’ve managed to obtain some extra resources from other areas and they have been patrolling the area around St. John’s and Melbourne Avenue more frequently. The police were trying to move people on and they have issued Community Protection Warning (CPWs) and Community Protection Notices (CPNs) to individuals but many of these individuals do not care and carry on regardless. The police have made a number of arrests recently, one of whom was on a recall to prison and several of them have been referred to Ealing RISE, the borough’s addiction treatment agency.”
West Ealing Neighbours was particularly concerned about how women and young girls felt about their personal safety as this concern was the starting point for our survey and this article. Caitlin from the Press Office department of the Met Police provided us with a statement about this, she stated, “Ealing Safer Neighbourhoods is committed to delivering the strongest ever Neighbourhoods policing in the area to protect and serve all our local community. Tackling violence against women and young girls remains a significant priority for the Metropolitan Police Service as a whole.”
Returning to our online survey, we asked – “Do you feel less safe, than a year ago?” Results showed 221 residents said “yes” they feel less safe than a year ago and 64 residents said “no” they don’t feel less safe than a year ago. The comments from residents described what they felt was an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour. Many mentions were made of seeing individuals hanging around for drugs and drug dealing and leaving evidence behind on the street such as cans of Nitrous Oxide more commonly known as laughing gas – a recreational drug.
But this is not the only drug that is used. Along with the use of drugs, crack and heroin, individuals use methadone, a class A drug on prescription, as a maintenance therapy to combat the use of heroin. Drug addicts frequent two particular pharmacies in West Ealing specifically for methadone, Mattock Lane Pharmacy on St. John’s Parade and Grosvenor Pharmacy on the Broadway. Many residents are concerned, that because drug addicts and dealers go here, it attracts more of these groups of people here, leaving residents feeling very unsafe.
Being on drugs does not always mean an individual is an addict. It might also be that the individual is going through some difficult mental health moments in their life, which ends up making them struggling to cope with everyday life.
A member at Solace’s mental health resource centre, based in West Ealing, explained that “Losing my children, triggered my mental health condition. I fell under the mental health service 29 years ago after some horrific things and ended up in hospital quite a lot. I did some dangerous things to myself which at the time I did not acknowledge but it was just the trauma I was in at the time with my mental health. A social worker brought me to Solace 20 years ago. Mirna and the team have been a massive support to me and helped me through my mental health problems. We have well-being groups here. It’s about talking to one another and understanding each other about what has helped them. It helps when someone has gone through similar experiences who share how to become a better person. It helped me make a positive difference to myself and to others. I’m back in touch with my children now.”
After hearing about this, we followed up with Catherine Bingham, Senior Recovery Worker at Solace, to gain a deeper understanding. She said, “We assist patients from all over the Ealing borough. We help patients who have been going in and out of hospital for several years. When patients come to us here, in a safe environment, we encourage them to talk to us to understand their conditions so that patients can feel connected, especially with other people who also might have the same condition. For example, sometimes people are in a difficult situation but it’s the strength that people find when they get support from us. We learn about them and this helps us to quickly spot identifiers of someone’s mental health, so that we can address their condition before it escalates.
Also, patients get support through peer support to help raise awareness about their conditions. Sometimes there are moments where patients need further clinical support and medicine so we refer them to clinicians. If a patient doesn’t have anyone to help them, it’s for them to go to their GP who will have a social prescriber or a mental health person at their surgery. So they’ll need to use a computer to get a referral. The mental health professional will contact us to deal with the referral form. Our slogan is, together accepting difference. We’ve had the good fortune of getting refreshed funding from both the Ealing council and the west London Mental Health Trust. We had Deirdre Costigan, Labour MP, for Ealing and Southall come to Solace on 6th December 2024 so we have the funding to go forward.”
Finally, we asked Cllr. Jasbir Anand, Ealing Council’s Cabinet member for tackling crime and antisocial behaviour for her views on the current situation.
She said: “We’ve been actively engaging with the Hanwell and West Ealing community and recently held a meeting in Hanwell, with residents and MP Deirdre Costigan, to discuss tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.
“Ealing Council has been liaising closely with the Hanwell Broadway and Walpole Safer Neighbourhoods teams-(local policing teams). We have been sharing information provided to us by residents to guide their patrols, discussing individuals/addresses that are coming to our attention and they can explore enforcement action.
“As well as coordinating with them, Ealing Council’s safer communities team has arranged for Parkguard, our private security contractors, to begin attending specific areas within West Ealing including St John’s Church, Leeland Road, Melbourne Avenue and Uxbridge Road, in addition to their regular patrols of Ealing Council’s estates and parks. The team will carry out daily, high visibility, patrols to gather intelligence around these areas and will address issues of antisocial behaviour. When this is not being addressed Parkguard will request police assistance. In addition, Ealing Council has arranged for regular CCTV patrols of those areas and will alert the police to any incidents and share stills/footage.”
Where to get help
Reporting a crime
Metropolitan Police
If it is an emergency call 999
Non-emergencies call 101
Report online at https://www.met.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/how-to-report-a-crime
Crimestoppers
You can report anonymously with Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/ They will pass on the information.
Mental Health
Solace Centre
The borough’s daily out-of-hours mental health resource centre. Clients need to be referred through a number of agencies. See their website for more details – https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk/our-services/adult/mental-health-services/solace-centre
Ealing Safe Space
A service for anyone, including carers, who feel they are reaching crisis point. More details on their website – https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk/our-services/adult/mental-health-services/safe-spaces
Safety Concerns
StreetSafe is a service from the police that allows you to report anonymously concerns such as poorly lit streets, vandalism as well as occasions when you feel unsafe due to being followed or verbally abused. Their website is https://www.police.uk/pu/notices/streetsafe/street-safe/
Homelessness
StreetLink is a service linking people sleeping rough to local services. You can report a rough sleeper on their website https://thestreetlink.org.uk/
Addiction
RISE is the borough’s service to help people who want to cut down or stop their use of drugs and alcohol. Details of their services are on their website – https://www.changegrowlive.org/service/ealing-rise/west-ealing
Fly-tipping
The Love Clean Streets app allows you to report environmental issues such as fly-tipping and potholes to Ealing Council – https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201230/my_account/2263/love_clean_streets/
Smriti Gopal
