Designing out crime
From the Islington Gazette.
03 January 2007
THE JUNKIES gathered there every evening to inject heroin, drifting in and out of consciousness in the doorway of the church.
The same faces every night - the same thin figures, the same bony hands grasping syringes - just another evening in Arlington Road, Camden Town.
Lynda Farrell, a secretary at Our Lady of Hal Church, Arlington Road, remembers the hardcore drug abuse on their doorstep. She said: "I had to clear up needles and excrement on a few occasions. That's when we decided we needed to do something. The police were doing their best but there wasn't anything they could do."So they sought professional advice and up went metal gates that have kept the spot clean and needle free ever since. The junkies have been forced to move on. Miss Farrell said: "It has made a big difference - we have no problem now."The changes to the church are one example of "designing out crime" - and it is going on all over Camden.
Staff at law firm Hodge Jones and Allen look out over the canal from their office in Camden Road, Camden Town. But the waterway was not the only sight they were confronted with - a flight of metal stairs down to the canal had become a drug-den. A secretary at the firm, who did not want to be named, said: "There were people taking drugs there. Police and ambulances were called on numerous occasions and several times people fell in the canal."It wasn't drug-taking that worried, it was the danger of someone drowning there."The council responded by removing the metal stairway and bricking up the entrance from Camden Road. "It's much better now", the secretary said. "I didn't want to see someone lose their life."
Four years ago the Sainsbury's car park in Camden Road, Camden Town, resembled a set from the movie Trainspotting. Businessman Tim Hadley remembers: "People were living there. There was blood, needles and faeces everywhere - one corner was a complete no-go area." Sainsbury's worked with Camden Council to "design out" the crime - adding barriers, CCTV and securing a gate which used to give junkies easy access.Mr Hadley said: "There are still drugs in the area, but the car park is 95 per cent better now."
Councillor Ben Rawlings, who oversees community safety, said: "Designing out crime is about small changes - but it is the small changes which are important."Crime happens for three reasons: the vulnerability of the victim, the intention of the criminal and the opportunity. We are trying to remove the opportunity, whether that means making it harder to mug people or preventing access to areas where drugs are taken."Recent changes in Camden Town include fences, lighting and CCTV along the canal, the redesign of St Martin's Gardens and the removal of recesses in Buck Street. Councillor Rawlings said: "The small changes add up to improve the area over a period of years. They are happening all over Camden - there isn't an end point."
The person in charge of Camden's improvement programme is Mary Davidson. It is her job to decide what needs to be done, get the money and carry it out.She said: "Our goal is for the community to be able to move around comfortably and safely. "We are never going to be able to get rid of the problem - some of London's drug markets have been around for centuries - but we can make an impact.More than £3million has been spent on improvements in one project alone, with more changes on the way. The urine-filled alcoves at Mecca Bingo in Arlington Road will soon be removed, while Juniper Crescent Estate, Chalk Farm, is getting security gates.
Mrs Davidson said: "Camden has lovely places, like the Lock and the market - it's unfortunate that they also attract people involved in drugs."Trying to design out crime is the best job I've done. Its very rewarding, but you need to be tenacious.
03 January 2007
THE JUNKIES gathered there every evening to inject heroin, drifting in and out of consciousness in the doorway of the church.
The same faces every night - the same thin figures, the same bony hands grasping syringes - just another evening in Arlington Road, Camden Town.
Lynda Farrell, a secretary at Our Lady of Hal Church, Arlington Road, remembers the hardcore drug abuse on their doorstep. She said: "I had to clear up needles and excrement on a few occasions. That's when we decided we needed to do something. The police were doing their best but there wasn't anything they could do."So they sought professional advice and up went metal gates that have kept the spot clean and needle free ever since. The junkies have been forced to move on. Miss Farrell said: "It has made a big difference - we have no problem now."The changes to the church are one example of "designing out crime" - and it is going on all over Camden.
Staff at law firm Hodge Jones and Allen look out over the canal from their office in Camden Road, Camden Town. But the waterway was not the only sight they were confronted with - a flight of metal stairs down to the canal had become a drug-den. A secretary at the firm, who did not want to be named, said: "There were people taking drugs there. Police and ambulances were called on numerous occasions and several times people fell in the canal."It wasn't drug-taking that worried, it was the danger of someone drowning there."The council responded by removing the metal stairway and bricking up the entrance from Camden Road. "It's much better now", the secretary said. "I didn't want to see someone lose their life."
Four years ago the Sainsbury's car park in Camden Road, Camden Town, resembled a set from the movie Trainspotting. Businessman Tim Hadley remembers: "People were living there. There was blood, needles and faeces everywhere - one corner was a complete no-go area." Sainsbury's worked with Camden Council to "design out" the crime - adding barriers, CCTV and securing a gate which used to give junkies easy access.Mr Hadley said: "There are still drugs in the area, but the car park is 95 per cent better now."
Councillor Ben Rawlings, who oversees community safety, said: "Designing out crime is about small changes - but it is the small changes which are important."Crime happens for three reasons: the vulnerability of the victim, the intention of the criminal and the opportunity. We are trying to remove the opportunity, whether that means making it harder to mug people or preventing access to areas where drugs are taken."Recent changes in Camden Town include fences, lighting and CCTV along the canal, the redesign of St Martin's Gardens and the removal of recesses in Buck Street. Councillor Rawlings said: "The small changes add up to improve the area over a period of years. They are happening all over Camden - there isn't an end point."
The person in charge of Camden's improvement programme is Mary Davidson. It is her job to decide what needs to be done, get the money and carry it out.She said: "Our goal is for the community to be able to move around comfortably and safely. "We are never going to be able to get rid of the problem - some of London's drug markets have been around for centuries - but we can make an impact.More than £3million has been spent on improvements in one project alone, with more changes on the way. The urine-filled alcoves at Mecca Bingo in Arlington Road will soon be removed, while Juniper Crescent Estate, Chalk Farm, is getting security gates.
Mrs Davidson said: "Camden has lovely places, like the Lock and the market - it's unfortunate that they also attract people involved in drugs."Trying to design out crime is the best job I've done. Its very rewarding, but you need to be tenacious.
posted by Arthur Graves at 8:46 AM
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