Recent successes highlighted at the Southwark Security and Resilience Forum

A recent Operation led by the BTP at London Bridge underground station

The September Security Forum was the first time the members of our Southwark Community Safety Zone (CSZ) had come together face to face since the pandemic. Hosted by PwC at their More London office, the Forum was dominated by the success of Operation Feather. The Met Police’s Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove praised the joined up working that the operation inspired and told the group that a near-term focus for Southwark Police would be preventing robbery and street robbery, with a particular emphasis on stopping violence against women and girls.

Andy Williams of TINYg told delegates about the world's largest, free to use Counter Terrorism Information network and encouraged London Bridge and Bankside based organisations to sign up.

British Transport Police Inspector Anna Beaver, Station Commander London Bridge, flagged that a retail awareness week was coming up to help combat crime in our local shops, and invited businesses to join their online ‘huddles’ in which pertinent, up to the minute information is shared.

Stewart Shortland from the Met’s Counter Terrorism team encouraged businesses to continue to ask staff to take part in ACT training, either in person or online, and alert their safety policy makers to the ACT Strategic training available. A new website called Protect UK as been set up to provide a single hub for all counter terrorism information. More can be seen at protectuk.police.uk

Both Better Bankside and Team London Bridge thanked their members and partners for their role in Operation Feather. Aneta Szkodlarska, Ops Manager at Team London Bridge, noted that over 100 additional businesses had signed up to the Security Alerts System to share timely security news with the community via email, SMS and an app. To sign up click here.

The Team London Bridge funded Police Officers, PCs Lee Noble and Nick Morant, updated the audience on upcoming local policing news and issues. One big success has been a series of drug detection operations coordinated by the BTP in London Bridge station, with the last two resulting in multiple arrests and convictions. They have also been dealing with the increasing begging issue and have banned a large number of offenders from the rail network.

The Police are also aware of potential disruption caused by the forthcoming 2022 World Cup games, starting in November. Previous tournaments have seen public disturbance issues arise in locations with big public screenings of England games, so businesses have been asked to share information about where matches will be shown. PC Morant flagged that he is running a number of training sessions and presentations this autumn, including WAVE and Ask for Angela – all very relevant as we move into the darker winter months. The London Bridge Hospital remarked how useful the recent training had been.

All sessions will be available to book on our events page.  The next Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) Training takes place 6th October - book free places here.