After receiving a blizzard of e-mails, I agreed to go on the Met Community Crime Fighters day in Vauxhall this past Friday. Riding up on the train that morning I had no idea what to expect: was it going to be a complete waste of time? What was the point to the day (the pre-event information was a bit vague), and would I get an official mask and cape but also have to wear my underpants on the outside of my trousers? Setting aside any pretensions of winning The Apprentice, I approached the venue with caution.

After collecting name badge and looking through a paucity of documentation in the bumph, my mood was considerably lightened upon meeting our PC Steve Christmas who was wondering much the same things.

Happily we survived the obligatory keynote speeches which could have been shortened by half, and went into the workshops which proved to be useful and informative. so much so that I actually took notes on things to be recounted on these pages in detail. In short, though, community crime fighters are voluntary folks from civic society groups and networks (safer neighbourhoods panels, mainly, for the moment) who are trained during events such as these, to know what we as ordinary folk are entitled to from our police force (including victim support, Crown Prosecution Service, Safer Neighbourhoods Teams and the hierarchy above to direct and support them, and so forth), the council, Ministry of Justice and Home Office, etc.

All this know-how comes in two useful forms - actual hard knowledge that can be shared and distributed locally (the strategic point to the day) and networking contacts that can be e-mailed with specific queries, or shortcuts to the source of a decision. The first type I shall be dispensing to any and all as much as humanly possible in any venue possible. The more we all know as civic society, the more officialdom has to up its game and perform as it should.

Three examples:

1. In the Brunswick Mews case we've been monitoring, there is a clear process for identifying the single point of contact for bringing all the parties together to report back on progress. The chair shouldn't have to be tasked with doing this.
2. In the case of the Streatham Business Centre, perceived failures of council service providers can be addressed in a specific way, and, in the event this isn't satisfactory, there is a further avenue of redress that (IIRC) has statutory powers to require action.
3. All Safer Neighbourhoods Teams have a budget of £1,000 - £1,500 to spend on publicising the panel and its activities. The panel has input on its use and is to be consulted about its use. We haven't yet seen this. The fund holder is the borough commander thus some pointed questions will be awaiting the new post holder as soon as the announcement on this is made. In the event the answer is unsatisfactory we have been given the contact details of the DAC in charge of this for South London.

All in all it was a very good day with good information given out and many new contacts made. I shall follow this post up with further posts including specific things we are entitled to as members of the public. In the meantime feel free to query via the comments or add your own experiences.