Acting Inspector Reshma Sher celebrates the opening of a new police hub in Woodford, which she says will improve local policing. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson
In partnership with Redbridge Council, a new police hub has opened in Woodford, within the heart of the community in the Orchard Estate, off Broadmead Road. There will be up to 20 officers based there, covering six wards: Bridge, Churchfields, Monkhams, South Woodford, Wanstead Park and Wanstead Village.
The opening of our police hub in Woodford provides Safer Neighbourhood officers with a dedicated base, which means officers will be stationed within walking distance of their wards and able to respond more effectively to issues such as antisocial behaviour, theft and vandalism.
The hub will also help to improve police response times across the west of Redbridge by reducing the current travel time from Ilford and Barkingside, giving officers more time for local patrols and tackling issues.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “We are totally committed to making neighbourhood policing stronger than ever before so we can focus on tackling the crimes that matter most to Londoners. It’s an important step towards the Met’s mission of delivering our strongest-ever neighbourhood policing, which has already seen an additional 500 officers dedicated to working in communities across London, ranging from Superintendents to PCSOs.’’
I hope to provide you with some great results from the hub in the near future, but for now, I would like to share some good news stories from across Redbridge. There has been an almost 13% reduction in the number of offences in the previous 12 months, including fewer reports of violence, drug offences and violence against women and girls.
Some of our recent local operations have seen:
- 65 bags of cannabis and nine wraps of white powder – along with approximately £2,000 – seized when a car was stopped on Goodmayes Lane.
- A man, later found to be wanted for three other burglaries, pursued and arrested after officers noticed an alarm at a commercial premises near Ilford station.
- Officers on routine patrols around Churchfields recovered two machetes and a hunting knife from a building known to be used as a squat.
- Four arrests as part of an operation focused on offenders targeting victims making ATM withdrawals in Ilford town centre.
- Three machetes, a firearm, white powder and brown substance found in a property in Mayfield Ward as part of an intelligence-led operation. A man ran from the property, was located by a dog unit and arrested.
- Three vulnerable women rescued from a brothel by neighbourhood officers in Ilford.
- Two robbery suspects arrested by officers in the Orchard Estate after they stole a victim’s coat and recorded the attack on a phone.
The Woodford Police Hub is located on the Orchard Estate, Broadmead Road. For more information and to contact your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team, visit wnstd.com/snt
