We spoke to Westminster Councillors Ralu Oteh-Osoka (Regent's Park) and Caroline Sargent (Abbey Road) outside Beechcroft Academy earlier.
The councillors are alarmed to learn about an increase in muggings and phone theft on children as they leave school or walk home through the Abbey Road and Finchley Road area. They are engaging with the schools, local Safer Neighbourhood Team Officers, with Council colleagues and other stakeholders, to ensure robust safeguarding steps are implemented so children can leave school safely.
The bottom line is that all agree we need more police on our streets.
Secondly, we want CCTV across the St John’s Wood area, we are hopeful of securing cameras in various locations to reduce the incidence of crime and anti-social behaviour in this part of Westminster.
Ralu explained,
"Caroline and I are outside Beechcroft Academy, having just done a joint visit between Abbey Road and Regent's Park councillors to visit the school, just to get more engaged, as part of our full school engagement across the St John’s Wood area."
Caroline continued
"And in particular, we've been discussing the steps that the schools can be taking to improve the safety of the children from all the schools around here as they're leaving at the end of the day. "This is in response to some recent incidents, which I know we're all very concerned about."
